Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) enhances food resilience. However, CEA faces major challenges—high energy intensity and carbon footprints.
Technological advancements are essential to reduce operational costs and promote CEA sustainability. This perspective article explores key technological innovations poised to enhance CEA sustainability, emphasizing the necessity of transdisciplinary approaches. We examine integrated decision-making frameworks informed by comprehensive life cycle analysis, distributed indoor agriculture, electricity demand flexibility, Digital Twins, and engineered microbiomes and plants optimized for CEA systems. For each area, we assess the current state of research, identify knowledge gaps, and outline future directions. For example, comprehensive life cycle analysis incorporates environmental, economic and social dimensions can inform both CEA decision making and community-scale circular economy planning; grid-integrated control strategies can enable CEA facilities to provide ancillary grid services, improving both economic viability and grid resilience.
A holistic transdisciplinary approach is essential to drive a sustainable future for the CEA sector.
Wang, L., Norford, L., Arkin, A. et al. Finding sustainable, resilient, and scalable solutions for future indoor agriculture. npj Sci. Plants 1, 5 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44383-025-00006-4
Source: Nature Magazine
