Innovative Indoor Farm for Intensive Food Production Using Photovoltaic Vacuum Glazing and Smart Technologies (SmartGreens)

利用光伏真空玻璃和智能技术 (SmartGreens) 进行集约化食品生产的创新型室内农场

• 批准号: 10004697
• 金额: $ 45.6万
• 依托单位: EXTREME LOW ENERGY LIMITED
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Collaborative R&D
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=10004697
• 关键词: Innovative; Indoor; Farm; Intensive; Food

The overall aim of the SmartGreens project is to design, develop and field trial of an innovative indoor farm for crop production. This proposed sustainable modular farm, SmartGreens uses photovoltaic (PV) insulating glazing combined with smart technologies to reduce the expensive carbon miles caused by mass food importation and therefore minimise the UK's overall carbon footprint. SmartGreens will also significantly reduce insecticide, fertiliser, and water usage. It will allow year-around crop production with continuous crops, achieving 5-6 crop cycles per year compared to just 1-2 cycles of conventional agriculture.The SmartGreens farm requires considerably less energy than traditional greenhouses, thus reducing its reliance on conventional fossil fuel energy resources. Innovative transparent PV vacuum glazing panels providing insulation and electricity to power the heating and ventilation systems. To enhance food production, the hydroponic growing system consists of a water reservoir/nutrient, growing trays and LED lighting. In terms of indoor climatic control, SmartGreens utilises a highly efficient, compact thermoelectric heat pump powered by PV-DC will be used to provide additional heating in winter and a phase change material 'ChainStore' device for passive cooling during extreme hot seasons. In addition, a CO2 carbon capture/release device will be employed to allow increased CO2 for plant's photosynthesis to increase production. The SmartGreens farms will enable the production of a range of crops including tomatoes, lettuce, kale, spinach, basil, carrots, onions, cucumbers, mushrooms, and other valuable crops with high nutritional value, helping to improve the diets and thus long-term health of consumers.The SmartGreens project will be beneficial for the farming industry and society in general. The project will create new job opportunities in food/agriculture, engineering, maintenance and operating services and energy sectors and also in the national/international trading businesses. The introduction of new sustainable farm technology is key to improving productivity by investing in the current and future agricultural industries.With the year-around production enabled by the highly efficient greenhouse, SmartGreens will enable the same amount of food to be grown in a smaller area. In the UK this will release land that can be used for tree planting to absorb carbon dioxide, thus helping the country to achieve zero nett carbon emissions by 2050, as well as providing more habitats for wildlife and places for outdoor recreation that engender improved mental health.

SmartGreens项目的总体目标是设计、开发和实地试验一个用于作物生产的创新室内农场。SmartGreens是一个可持续的模块化农场，它使用光伏（PV）绝缘玻璃与智能技术相结合，以减少大量食品进口造成的昂贵的碳里程，从而最大限度地减少英国的整体碳足迹。SmartGreens还将大大减少杀虫剂、化肥和水的使用。它将允许全年连续作物生产，每年实现5-6个作物周期，而传统农业只有1-2个周期。SmartGreens农场需要的能源比传统温室少得多，从而减少了对传统化石燃料能源的依赖。创新的透明光伏真空玻璃板提供绝缘和电力，为供暖和通风系统供电。为了提高粮食产量，水培种植系统由蓄水池/营养液、种植托盘和LED照明组成。在室内气候控制方面，SmartGreens利用由PV-DC供电的高效、紧凑型热电热泵在冬季提供额外供暖，并利用相变材料“ChainStore”设备在极热季节进行被动冷却。此外，将采用CO2碳捕获/释放装置，以允许增加CO2用于植物的光合作用，从而增加产量。SmartGreens农场将能够生产一系列作物，包括西红柿，生菜，羽衣甘蓝，菠菜，罗勒，胡萝卜，洋葱，黄瓜，蘑菇和其他具有高营养价值的有价值的作物，有助于改善饮食，从而改善消费者的长期健康。SmartGreens项目将有利于农业行业和整个社会。该项目将在食品/农业、工程、维修和运营服务、能源部门以及国内/国际贸易企业创造新的就业机会。引进新的可持续农业技术是通过投资当前和未来农业来提高生产力的关键。通过高效温室实现全年生产，SmartGreens将在更小的面积内种植相同数量的食物。在英国，这将释放可用于植树以吸收二氧化碳的土地，从而帮助该国到2050年实现零净碳排放，并为野生动物提供更多栖息地和户外娱乐场所，从而改善心理健康。