On: Arctic farming: Town defies icy conditions with hy...

[tom_mellior]

> The energy problem is mentioned almost in passing, but it could be a deal breaker for this type of farming.

Indeed. Some harsh places do have lots of essentially free energy, though: 100% of Iceland's electricity comes from a combination of geothermal and hydropower; 99% of Norway's from hydro (source: Wikipedia). I've been wondering for a while if they could use that for this kind of agriculture. Looks like it might work.

[ogrisel → tom_mellior]

More than electricity, heating can be very cheap when your farm is on top of an active volcano.

In Iceland many greenhouses can grow tomatoes and bananas because they have direct access to hot water from the ground bellow.

[sdx23 → tom_mellior]

It does. Look Hveragerði: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMPE5W_Tomato_Greenhouses...