Developing a circular model for low-emission, healthy TCEA food production

该项目将通过创建和测试一种新的循环和可扩展的本地低排放食品生产模式，通过优化TCEA生产技术来降低运营成本和提高生产率，并通过开发一种营养丰富的生物肥料来种植健康、高营养的食品，来推动英国世界领先的全面控制环境农业(TCEA)能力的增长。该项目将解决英国食品供应面临的最严重威胁--英国目前46%的食品需求依赖于高度容易受到干扰的长而集中的供应链。虽然TCEA预计将快速增长，以帮助弥补每年60亿GB的粮食生产缺口，但该项目将解决TCEA面临的紧迫技术挑战，即在提高资源效率的同时降低其高昂的运营成本。为了实现这一目标，该项目将创建一个以可再生能源为动力的集装箱TCEA食品生产设施，以激励英国增加可持续的当地食品生产。该项目将通过一系列创新提高TCEA的生产率，包括开发一种使用厌氧消化(AD)的营养丰富的生物肥料，以生产一种低成本、低排放的商业化肥替代品。该项目还将通过测试不同的生产方法来优化TCEA的效率，包括种植系统技术和基材，以最大限度地提高所生产食品的营养价值。该项目将通过使用可再生能源(包括太阳能和AD首次产生的沼气)来驱动其集装箱种植设施，以实现预计30%的减排，从而降低TCEA的高管理费用和排放。该项目将开发一个真正的循环食品生产系统，强调可持续的当地生产，以实现更短、更少集中和脱碳的供应链。它将展示如何通过在废弃土地上运行TCEA来减少粮食生产所需的土地数量。该项目将与生物可再生能源开发中心(BDC)和约克大学(UOY)新型农产品中心(UOY)的专家合作，该中心是一个卓越的中心，利用尖端研究利用自然的力量开发新产品和新工艺，帮助实施FixOurFood计划，并运营自己的实验垂直农场。我们密切的伙伴关系将加强和发展该地区的生物经济，该地区的生物经济已经达到每年910亿GB，支持了40多万个工作岗位。

The project will drive the growth of world-leading Total Controlled Environment Agriculture (TCEA) capacity in the UK by creating and testing a new circular and scalable model for local low emission food production, by optimising TCEA production technologies to reduce running costs and improve productivity, and by developing a nutrient-rich biofertiliser that grows healthy, high nutrition foods.This project will address the most serious threat to UK food supply -- the country currently imports 46% of its food needs, relying on long, centralised supply chains that are highly vulnerable to disruption. While TCEA has been projected to grow rapidly to help meet this £6 billion per year food production deficit, the pressing technological challenge for TCEA that this project will tackle is to reduce its high operating costs whilst improving resource efficiency.To achieve this, the project will create a containerised TCEA food production facility powered by renewable energy to inspire increased sustainable local food production in the UK. The project will increase the productivity of TCEA through a number of innovations including developing a nutrient-rich biofertiliser using anaerobic digestion (AD) to produce a low-cost, lower-emission alternative to commercial fertilisers. It will also optimise TCEA efficiency by testing different production methods - including growing system technologies and substrates such as wool -- in order to maximise the nutritional value of the food produced.The project will reduce the high overheads and emissions of TCEA by powering its containerised growing facility using renewable energy, including solar power and for the first time biogas from AD, to achieve a projected 30% reduction in emissions.This project will develop a genuinely circular food production system that emphasises sustainable local production to achieve shorter, less centralised and decarbonised supply chains. It will demonstrate how to reduce the amount of land needed for food production by operating a TCEA on disused land.The project will work in collaboration with experts from the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) and the University of York's (UoY) Centre For Novel Agricultural Products which is a centre of excellence using cutting-edge research to harness the power of nature for development of new products and processes, helping to deliver the FixOurFood programme and running its own experimental vertical farm. Our close partnership will strengthen and grow the region's bioeconomy which is already worth £91 billion per year, supporting over 400,000 jobs.