Volume 61

Towards Life Cycle Assessment and Techno-Economic Analysis of Vertical Farming: Integrating Municipal Wastewater Treatment with Nutrient Recovery and Direct Air Capture Jan Skvaril, Yahya Jani

Abstract

Indoor vertical farming (IVF) offers promising solutions for urban food security but still faces challenges in resource efficiency and economic viability. This study develops a preliminary LCA-TEA framework to evaluate two scenarios for lettuce production in a Swedish urban environment: (1) conventional vertical farming with municipal water and mineral/synthetic fertilizer, and (2) an integrated IVF system coupling wastewater nutrient recovery with Direct Air Capture (DAC)1 for COâ‚‚ fertilization.
The conventional IVF shows considerable environmental impacts resulting from high energy consumption of LED lighting, water use, and synthetic fertilizer production. Regardless of Sweden’s low-carbon electricity grid, the high energy intensity remains the main challenge to achieve economic viability. The integrated IVF system aims to transform the conventional linear model into a circular one, where municipal wastewater undergoes advanced treatment to recover N and P, while a modular DAC unit captures atmospheric CO₂ that is delivered to crops.
The literature review indicates that such an integrated approach could substantially reduce freshwater consumption, eliminate synthetic fertilizer requirements, and enable potential carbon-negative production through atmospheric COâ‚‚ removal. Economic benefits may arise from avoided input costs and potential revenue including water treatment services and eventually carbon credits. Sensitivity analysis can further explore critical parameters such as electricity prices, nutrient recovery efficiency, and COâ‚‚ recovery efficiency.
In addition, we link the framework to energy resilience, referring to the ability to sustain production during periods of electricity price volatility and interruptions. This is achieved by considering demand flexibility, on-site storage and backup systems, and a substituted COâ‚‚ supply via DAC.
Overall, the work demonstrates that there are promising conditions for developing integrated IVF systems that represent the water-energy-food-carbon nexus which could enhance sustainability and resilience in urban environment and better align with Sweden’s 2045 climate policy goals.

Keywords vertical farming, nutrient recovery, direct air capture, CO2 fertilization, Life Cycle Assessment, Techno-Economic Analysis