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Saw this interesting article. What I thought was fascinating is that the yields of the underground crops were so extensive, and that the article in effect refers to the possibility of using TDP to turn the crop waste into fuel to power the electricity. Also that the crops are in effect organic, since they don't need pesticides in the caves. So in a peaked world where people are trying to produce more food locally they could use caves for agriculture.

I guess what we need now is a lot of caves!!

I guess the main issue is where would the soil come from, and as we know, fertilizers would be increasingly expernsive.

http://wired.com/news/medtech/0%2C1286% ... _tophead_2

The crops were genetically modified for the purpose of producing pharmaceuticals. They were grown using artificial light. This was never meant to be an energy efficient way to grow something. The goal was to produce a valuable pharmaceutical in a GM plant without the risk of cross-contaminating food crops.

To grow food in caves would be to take the last non-fossil fuel based input (sunlight) out of the equation. There are those who attempt to grow illegal drugs underground. Law enforcement usually finds them by their monstrous power bills. Using plant waste to generate electricity for artificial light to grow the plants? That's the worst perpetual motion machine concept I've heard yet.