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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsUsually, vertical farming uses less water but more energy per kilogram of produce than irrigated conventional farming. The water advantage is strongest when a recirculating controlled-environment system is compared with irrigated field production. Artificial lighting, heating, cooling, pumps and other controls generally make the energy requirement higher. A rainfed field farm can use less water than a vertical farm when the comparison counts rainfall and the full life cycle.
There is no single percentage that applies to every crop or farm. A sound comparison must name the crop, location, production system, functional unit, water boundary, energy boundary and electricity source.
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The direct comparison: less water, more energy
Vertical farming is a form of controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) in which crops are grown in stacked or otherwise highly controlled indoor spaces. It is not identical to every hydroponic greenhouse: hydroponics describes the growing method, while a vertical farm normally adds multiple growing levels and substantial artificial lighting. Research often combines several CEA types, so the system being measured matters.
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| Resource | Typical direction versus irrigated field production | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Water per kilogram of crop | Lower in many hydroponic and vertical systems | Recirculation and controlled delivery can reduce losses, while field crops may require large irrigation applications. |
| Energy per kilogram of crop | Higher in most fully indoor systems | Electricity is needed for lighting, climate control, air movement, pumping and other equipment. |
| Climate impact | Highly variable | Electricity demand is similar, but greenhouse-gas emissions depend heavily on the generation mix and upstream materials. |
The comparison changes if the conventional farm is rainfed, if water is counted only at the irrigation outlet rather than across the life cycle, or if a vertical farm uses low-carbon electricity. Those choices should be visible whenever a number is reported.
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What the best-known lettuce example actually measured
Barbosa et al.’s modeled Arizona comparison
A frequently cited study by Barbosa et al. (2015) modeled lettuce production in southwestern Arizona. Its controlled system was a hydroponic greenhouse, not a measured commercial vertical farm. The authors compared modeled hydroponic production with conventional lettuce using engineering equations, literature values, crop budgets and government agricultural statistics. The geography and assumptions limit how directly the figures can be transferred to another farm.
| Metric for lettuce | Hydroponic controlled system | Conventional production | Reported comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water use | 20 ± 3.8 L/kg | 250 ± 25 L/kg | The hydroponic value was much lower per kilogram; the authors reported area-based water use as comparable. |
| Energy use | 90,000 ± 11,000 kJ/kg | 1,100 ± 75 kJ/kg | About 82 ± 11 times higher for the hydroponic system. |
| Yield per area | Not expressed as a separate value in the table | Hydroponics produced 11 ± 1.7 times higher yield per area. | |
The water result illustrates why controlled systems attract interest in dry regions: producing one kilogram of lettuce used about 20 liters in the model rather than 250 liters. The energy result shows the trade-off just as clearly. The modeled controlled system required about 90,000 kilojoules per kilogram, compared with 1,100 kilojoules for conventional lettuce. Heating, cooling and supplemental lights were included in the controlled-environment estimate.
Because this was a model for a specific Arizona context, its multipliers are not a universal vertical-farming rule. A farm with different lighting hours, climate, insulation, crop variety, yield, electricity supply or cooling load could have a substantially different result.
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How much water can vertical farming save?
Why per-kilogram water use is often lower
Indoor hydroponic systems deliver nutrient solution directly to roots and can capture and reuse water. They also avoid some field losses associated with applying water over large areas in hot, dry conditions. Stating the result per kilogram of marketable produce accounts for the fact that a high-yield system can use more water in total while using less water for each kilogram sold.
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That distinction matters. A farm may report low liters per kilogram because it harvests frequently and achieves high output from a small footprint. A separate area-based measure is needed when the question is how much food can be produced from a hectare or building site.
Review-level benchmarks for vertical lettuce
Righini et al. (2025), reviewing lettuce vertical-farming research, reported a range rather than one guaranteed performance figure:
- Yield: 60–105 kilograms of fresh weight per square meter per year.
- Energy-use efficiency: approximately 0.08–0.13 kilograms of fresh weight per kilowatt-hour.
- Water-use efficiency: approximately 140 grams of fresh weight per liter.
These are review-level averages or benchmarks assembled from different systems. They are useful for scale, not a promise that every installation will reach the upper end. The water figure is an efficiency measure: about 140 grams of fresh lettuce per liter under the reviewed conditions, not a universal consumption rate for all crops or facilities.
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Rainfall is not interchangeable with irrigation water. A 2025 comparative life-cycle assessment by Gargaro et al. examined vertical-farm scenarios alongside field production in the United Kingdom and Spain. The vertical system had lower water impacts than the Spanish field scenarios but higher impacts than the two UK rainfed field farms modeled.
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The study used a whole-life-cycle boundary. Direct cultivation water was only a small share of the vertical-farm impact, while upstream inputs, including jute plugs, contributed a substantial share. This means a statement such as “vertical farming uses 90 percent less water” is incomplete unless it says whether rainfall, manufacturing and other upstream flows are included.
Why vertical farming generally uses more energy
Artificial light is the central difference
Field crops receive sunlight without an electricity bill for photons. A fully indoor vertical farm must replace sunlight with electric lighting and remove the heat that lighting creates. Pumps circulate water and nutrients; fans move air; sensors and control systems maintain conditions; heating or cooling keeps the crop within its target range. These loads are incurred every production cycle, even when water use is very low.
The Arizona model quantified this trade-off as 82 ± 11 times more energy per kilogram for hydroponic production than conventional lettuce. Its hydroponic system also produced 11 ± 1.7 times more yield per area. Higher land productivity therefore does not imply lower energy intensity.
What broader research finds
Verteramo Chiu et al. (2024) conducted a meta-analysis of 91 publications, with underlying studies published from 2000 through January 2023. Across tomatoes, strawberries and lettuce, controlled-environment agriculture had significantly higher yields, energy use and global-warming potential than the comparison systems, but significantly lower water use.
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The meta-analysis supports the direction of the Arizona example while rejecting the idea that one fixed multiplier applies everywhere. It also identified inconsistent reporting among studies, which makes comparisons harder when authors use different boundaries, units or definitions of water and energy.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Energy use and carbon emissions are different measurements
Electricity source changes the climate impact of a vertical farm without changing the amount of electricity its equipment needs. A Scotland lettuce case study by Sandison et al. (2023) attributed 91% of the vertical farm’s carbon footprint to electricity. In its modeled scenarios, emissions were:
| Electricity scenario | Modeled emissions | What the number represents |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 Scottish grid mix | 1.49 kg CO₂e/kg lettuce | Greenhouse-gas emissions per kilogram, not energy demand. |
| 2020 Scottish grid mix | 0.42 kg CO₂e/kg lettuce | A lower-carbon grid reduced the modeled footprint. |
| 100% renewable generation | 0.33 kg CO₂e/kg lettuce | A modeled electricity scenario, not a claim that all farms achieve this result. |
The fall from 1.49 to 0.33 kilograms of CO₂e per kilogram of lettuce shows why carbon claims must identify the electricity mix and year. It does not mean the farm used fewer kilowatt-hours in the renewable scenario; it means each kilowatt-hour carried fewer associated emissions. Energy demand and climate impact should be reported separately.
How to make a fair vertical-versus-field comparison
Use the following checklist before accepting a headline number:
- Name the crop and system. Lettuce, tomatoes and strawberries have different lighting, temperature and harvest requirements. Distinguish a stacked vertical farm from a hydroponic greenhouse or another CEA design.
- Choose the functional unit. Use kilograms of marketable fresh produce for consumer-facing resource intensity. Add kilograms per square meter per year when land productivity is relevant.
- Define the water boundary. Say whether the figure covers irrigation withdrawal, water consumed by the crop, recirculated process water or total life-cycle water. State whether rainfall, also called green water, is counted.
- Define the energy boundary. Identify whether lighting, heating, cooling, ventilation, pumping, controls, construction and transport are included. Do not compare a farm’s electricity bill with a field study’s full fuel and input inventory without checking the boundaries.
- Report electricity source and date. Grid intensity varies by country and year. Renewable electricity can lower carbon emissions while leaving the farm’s physical energy requirement largely unchanged.
- Check the evidence type. A modeled estimate, a review benchmark and a measured farm inventory answer different questions. Record the climate, operating assumptions and study period before generalizing.
What the evidence means for different decisions
Choosing a production location
In a water-stressed region with irrigated field agriculture, a controlled system may provide a major water-efficiency benefit per kilogram. The same project may impose a large electricity demand, so access to reliable, low-carbon power and a manageable cooling load becomes decisive. A cool climate can reduce some cooling needs but may increase heating demand; the balance is site-specific.
Evaluating a sustainability claim
Ask for the crop, production system, unit, boundary and electricity mix. A claim that a farm “saves water” is meaningful only against a named comparator. A claim that it is “low carbon” requires an emissions factor and a stated electricity scenario. Water savings alone do not establish a lower total environmental impact, because energy use, greenhouse gases and upstream materials can offset the water benefit.
Comparing land productivity with resource intensity
Vertical systems can produce more output from a given floor area or site, as the Arizona model’s 11 ± 1.7-fold area-yield difference illustrates. That advantage answers a land-use question. It does not answer whether each kilogram required less energy, less water or fewer total resources.
What is established—and what is not
The evidence consistently points to a conditional split: controlled systems generally use less water per kilogram than irrigated field production and more energy per kilogram. The direction is supported by the Arizona lettuce model, the 2024 meta-analysis and the 2025 vertical-lettuce review.
What is not established is a universal saving percentage for “vertical farming.” Results vary by crop, latitude, lighting schedule, yield, climate-control design, rainfed or irrigated comparator, life-cycle inventory and electricity mix. The Arizona figures should therefore be read as a clearly bounded modeled example, not as a specification for every commercial farm.
The most defensible conclusion is narrow but useful: vertical farming can be a water-efficient way to grow crops where the alternative is irrigated field production, but it normally pays for that efficiency with higher energy demand. Whether the overall system is environmentally preferable depends on the comparison boundary and on how that energy is generated.
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