Vertical Farming Consortium Secures UK Government Funding To Advance Low-Emission Food Production Using Energy Storage
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Renewable Energy Magazine.
This is the sub-heading.
A consortium of four British companies, comprising UK Urban AgriTech (UKUAT), Intelligent Growth Solutions Ltd, RheEnergise and James Hutton Institute has received a grant from the UK Government to advance the development of low-carbon and low-cost food production by co-locating renewable energy with vertical farms.
These paragraphs outline the project.
The V-FAST consortium’s £488,000 project will explore how co-locating RheEnergise’s HD Hydro Energy Storage system with vertical farms can support a low-emission route to growing protein-rich crops in a controlled environment.
Last year, V-FAST – Vertical Farming And Storage Technologies – started investigating sites in Scotland’s Central Belt for the location of Scotland’s next generation of hectare+ scale vertical farms, powered by 100 percent renewables and using RheEnergise’s High-Density Hydro energy storage system. These farms would provide locally produced fresh foods (salads and fruits) to over 60 percent of the Scottish population and help meet the Scottish Government’s ambitions to produce more homegrown fruit and vegetables. These site investigations in Scotland continue.
Now, with the Innovate UK and BBSRC funding as part of the Novel Low Emission Food Production Systems competition, V-FAST will broaden the area for its site feasibility studies to across the UK, using GIS to identify and rate suitable locations for vertical farms that are co-located with renewables and High-Density Hydro energy storage. As part of the project, V-FAST will also undertake crop trials to establish optimal climate recipes in terms of their energy efficiency relative to produce metrics (e.g. protein per kWh or kg of CO2e).
It certainly sounds unusual to pair vertical farming with energy storage, but if it works, why knock it?
RheEnergise’s HD Hydro Energy Storage system is effectively pumped storage hydroelectricity using a fluid with a specific gravity of 2.5.
So instead of needing mountains to store energy, it can use medium-sized hills.
The Wikipedia entry for vertical farming, introduces the concept like this.
Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers. It often incorporates controlled-environment agriculture, which aims to optimize plant growth, and soilless farming techniques such as hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponics. Some common choices of structures to house vertical farming systems include buildings, shipping containers, tunnels, and abandoned mine shafts.
As both HD Hydro Energy Storage system and vertical farming seem to need some form of vertical space, can colocation be advantageous in terms of cost?
Wikipedia also says that vertical farms also face large energy demands due to the use of supplementary light like LEDs.
So could V-FAST be an unusal marriage made in heaven of plant science and energy storage?
Rat Poison And Sprouts Don’t Mix
This cautionary tale about mixing brussels sprouts with anti-coagulant drugs, like Warfarin, should be noted.
The trouble is that I like my sprouts, so I’ll go easy on them over Christmas.
I think though, I’ll do a before and after INR test.
I feel a bit of scientific research coming on!
Wobbly Carrot Amnesty
The Times reports today, that because of the dreadful weather, the supermarkets are relaxing their standards for vegetables. The Times calls it a wobbly carrot amnesty.
Where is Esther Rantzen when you need her?
The Grapes of the Devil
This was the description of brussel sprouts on one television program over Christmas.
I don’t agree, as I like my sprouts.
The Anonymous Widower 