Imagine a towering oasis of green shelves inside a converted urban warehouse, quietly producing crisp lettuce, fragrant herbs, and fresh microgreens year-round. This is the promise of Vertical Farming (VF)—a revolutionary answer to land scarcity, climate volatility, and long, polluted food supply chains. It's a true example of local, sustainable food production. But there's a secret driving this urban harvest, one that often contradicts its "green" label: its enormous energy require...