Evaluating the Economic Feasibility of Plant Factory Scenarios That Produce Biomass for Biorefining Processes

Abstract

The use of a plant factory is typically associated with the cultivation of edible biomass for local markets within the urban environment and leads to economic feasibility being evaluated in this context. This paper explored the use of plant factories to produce biomass and value-added compounds for the biorefining industry to help frame the debate regarding the expansion of plant factory applicability to the greater biorefining value chain. Information regarding plant factory technology, crop selection for biorefining markets, and the industrial integration potential of plant factories was used to evaluate the economic feasibility of theoretical plant factory scenarios. From these scenarios, it was shown that plant factories showed economic feasibility while serving the food market and had significant potential in the biopharmaceutical market when accumulating adequate levels of biopharmaceutical products within the plants grown in the plant factories. These results suggested economic feasibility beyond the food market by selecting appropriate crops, based on plant factory and end-user market demands, and value-added compounds which could be accumulated in economically viable quantities.