Using Demand Flexing to Transform Indoor Farms into Renewable Energy Assets

利用需求弹性将室内农场转变为可再生能源资产

• 批准号: BB/Z514469/1
• 负责人: Matthew Jones
• 金额: $ 35.52万
• 依托单位: University of Glasgow
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FZ514469%2F1
• 关键词: Using; Demand; Flexing; Transform; Indoor

In this project we will demonstrate how coordinating renewable energy availability with energy expenditure enables PACE horticulture facilities to be an asset to the evolving smart energy grid.The lack of fruit and vegetables on supermarket shelves this spring arose from a multitude of factors, including high energy prices discouraging UK growers from planting protected horticultural crops during winter 2021/22. Lighting, heating, and ventilation each contribute to energy bills for growers but lighting can comprise 70% of these costs in indoor farms and light intensity is immediately responsive to energy consumption (in contrast to heating and ventilation which vary over longer time periods). Our ultimate goal is to allow PACE horticulture infrastructure to present itself as a "shiftable load" to the electricity grid. This type of demand flexibility management is often deployed in complex, time-critical industrial processes where power consumption schedules can be varied provided that the final product falls within acceptable tolerances. Demand flexing has significant commercial advantages and will be increasingly important as controllable (fossil fuel) energy generation decreases as a proportion of our electricity supply.Despite the potential advantages of demand flexing for PACE horticulture we still need to determine how crop growth is affected by varied light irradiation. Plants alter their development dependent on prevailing environmental conditions. Varied light regimes consequently produce variation within the crops produced. We can control this 'developmental plasticity' by genetically manipulating the signalling pathways which control plants responses to light. We will assess whether previously generated 'timeless' plants (which we have designed to respond uniformly to light signals) are better able to maintain crop yield, quality, and uniformity when demand flexing is applied.In this project we have three distinct aims;1) We need to demonstrate that demand flexing is applicable in PACE horticulture so that we can optimise energy usage whilst maximising crop productivity.2) We need to understand how demand flexing can be integrated with existing flexible light regimes to maximise crop yield and quality.3) We need to confirm that our genetically engineered 'timeless' plants have uniform performance during demand flexing so that we can maximise crop productivity and achieve Net Zero goals.ObjectivesWe will exploit our understanding of crop photobiology and existing genetic resources to understand how best to apply demand flexing to PACE horticulture.1) We will assess the growth and biochemical characteristics of crops grown under exemplar demand flexing schemes to demonstrate the utility of this approach.2) We will assess how demand flexing can be integrated with a varied light regime to maximise crop yield.3) We will assess the performance of 'timeless' plants in PACE horticulture so that we can maximise crop productivity during the application of demand flexing.Applications and BenefitsThe positioning of PACE horticulture as flexible assets in the evolving smart electricity grid will have commercial benefits for growers and will enhance the viability of the industry. Increased commercial viability of PACE horticulture will allow the distribution of infrastructure alongside sites of renewable energy generation. This distributed production will have societal benefits beyond those conferred by their produce alone. For instance, a distributed placement of smaller scale indoor farms within communities will reduce food mileage and provide job opportunities within these areas, enabling a Just Transition in energy use.

在这个项目中，我们将展示如何协调可再生能源的可用性与能源支出，使 PACE 园艺设施成为不断发展的智能能源网的一项资产。今年春天超市货架上水果和蔬菜的缺乏是由多种因素造成的，其中包括高能源价格阻碍了英国种植者在 2021/22 年冬季种植受保护的园艺作物。照明、供暖和通风均会增加种植者的能源费用，但在室内农场中，照明占这些成本的 70%，并且光强度会立即响应能源消耗（与在较长时间内变化的供暖和通风相比）。我们的最终目标是让 PACE 园艺基础设施成为电网的“可转移负载”。这种类型的需求灵活性管理通常部署在复杂、时间关键的工业流程中，只要最终产品处于可接受的容差范围内，功耗计划就可以变化。需求弹性具有显着的商业优势，并且随着可控（化石燃料）能源发电占电力供应比例的下降而变得越来越重要。尽管需求弹性对于 PACE 园艺具有潜在优势，但我们仍然需要确定不同的光照射对作物生长的影响。植物根据当时的环境条件改变其发育。因此，不同的光照条件会导致所生产的作物发生变化。我们可以通过基因操纵控制植物对光反应的信号通路来控制这种“发育可塑性”。我们将评估以前生成的“永恒”植物（我们设计为对光信号进行统一响应）在应用需求弹性时是否能够更好地保持作物产量、质量和均匀性。在这个项目中，我们有三个不同的目标；1）我们需要证明需求弹性适用于 PACE 园艺，以便我们可以优化能源使用，同时最大限度地提高作物生产力。2）我们需要了解如何将需求弹性与现有的弹性相结合 3) 我们需要确认我们的基因工程“永恒”植物在需求弹性期间具有一致的性能，以便我们能够最大限度地提高作物生产力并实现净零目标。目标我们将利用我们对作物光生物学和现有遗传资源的理解来了解如何最好地将需求弹性应用于 PACE 园艺。1) 我们将评估在需求弹性下生长的作物的生长和生化特性 示范需求弹性方案来证明这种方法的实用性。2) 我们将评估需求弹性如何与不同的光照制度相结合，以最大限度地提高作物产量。3) 我们将评估 PACE 园艺中“永恒”植物的性能，以便我们可以在应用需求弹性的过程中最大限度地提高作物生产力。应用和优点 PACE 园艺作为不断发展的智能电网中的灵活资产的定位将 为种植者带来商业利益，并将增强该行业的生存能力。 PACE 园艺商业可行性的提高将使基础设施能够与可再生能源发电场所一起分布。这种分布式生产所带来的社会效益将超出其产品本身所带来的社会效益。例如，在社区内分布式放置较小规模的室内农场将减少食物里程并在这些地区提供就业机会，从而实现能源使用的公正过渡。