On: Japanese firm to open world’s first robot-run farm

[paulsutter]

Do you really think they would invest this much R&D, yet somehow never thought to consider the cost or efficiency advantages of piping natural light?

I'm no expert but lighting has gotten a lot more efficient recently:

http://www.designrecycleinc.com/led%20comp%20chart.html

LEDs are also well suited to farming because you can tune their output spectrum:

http://www.lighting.philips.com/main/products/horticulture/c...

[thangalin → paulsutter]

Light-emitting plasma (LEP) and white lasers are also making waves. LEDs suffer from narrow beam and canopy penetration, which can be compensated using a rail system.

See: http://plantozoid.com/plasma-grow-light-revolution/