Monitoring the environmental impact of controlled environment agriculture

Challenges

With a value of around £14 billion each year, the food and drink industry is a significant contributor to the Scottish economy. This significant capacity has underpinned Scotland’s reputation as a land of high-quality, healthy food and drink. All of this has helped formulate Scotland’s Food and Drink Ambition 2030 aims to double the value of the food and drink sector by 2030 to £30 billion. 

The increasing problems of climate change, in terms of long-term basic environmental change and increased weather extremes, are making production increasingly challenging. The challenges of adaptation and mitigations have seen the sector pull together to both maintain output whilst reducing emissions. This recognises Scotland’s commitment to reduce baseline greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 75% by 2030 and transition to net zero by 2045.

The drive to net zero was accelerated by the update to the Scottish climate change plan with the associated potential to transform the agricultural and food production system. At the same time, it is well recognised that GHG emissions from agriculture and related land use accounted for 24% of the total emissions in 2017, down 29% from the baseline levels of 1990. This is complemented by and aligns with, the circular economy strategy for Scotland which aims to progress toward resource efficiency and zero waste and has an immediate target of cutting food waste by a third by 2025. Tansforming the sector will require the adoption and application of low-emission technologies throughout the whole sector, maximising efficiencies, and outputs, minimising inputs and taking advantage of precision farming.

Vertical farming is an emerging food manufacturing process with the potential to change the way food is produced and distributed in rural and urban environments. Vertical farming allows food to be produced reliably and can significantly reduce the need for resource inputs and minimise the production of waste. Additionally, vertical farming can be located anywhere which reduces pressure on agricultural land use and allows food production to potentially take place closer to consumers thereby shortening supply chains and reducing transportation requirements. However, if this technology is to be more widely adopted there is a need to establish associated baseline energy use, GHG emissions and inputs/outputs, which will be explored in this case study.

Questions

Solutions

This project is establishing the baseline energy use, GHG emissions and inputs/outputs for vertical farming and comparing them to alternative and established production systems. The viability of vertical farming will be evaluated in a separate project with respect to its potential to enhance crop productivity and provide added economic value.

Challenges and opportunities for reducing GHG emissions in Vertical farming

We are understanding the state-of-the-art regarding GHG emissions and energy use associated with vertical farming. We are systematically reviewing reports and datasets that address energy use and GHG emissions of vertical farming systems and additional information such as the types of crops grown and the effect of geographical location on the environmental impact of vertical farms. We are also engaging with relevant stakeholders (growers, retailers, and policymakers) to hear about their challenges and opportunities.

Establish baseline levels to produce basil and other crops

Basil occupies 60-75% of the European fresh herb market and the methodology to produce basil in various vertical farming systems (large towers, shipping containers) is well established. We use basil as the standard crop to test the performance of various vertical farming systems. We provide baseline measurements and estimates of GHG emissions for different vertical farming designs. Our dataset also provides information regarding the effect of seasonality on the environmental impact of producing basil in vertical systems. We are also extending this approach to cover the production of other crops: chives, rocket, spinach, and chard.

Life Cycle Assessment of Scottish vertical farming systems

We are using all available data from vertical farming systems in Scotland to evaluate baseline GHG emissions from unit production from VF in Scotland. We account for regional variabilities within Scotland while evaluating the carbon footprint.

Measuring the effect of controlling environmental parameters on energy consumption

The optimal growth of crops in vertical farming conditions will require precise control over environmental conditions. We assess how various environmental parameters affect the energy use of the platforms over different seasons. This information provides a framework to estimate the energy usage of different growth protocols and aid in optimising new crop growing methods.

Assessing the environmental impact of optimising controlled environment parameters to produce Basil

We are utilising different growth conditions and assessing the impact of these on crop quality, energy use, plant productivity and generation of waste. These findings are compared with the baseline measurements established for summer, autumn, winter and spring, and the actual energy usage is compared with the projected usage.

Comparative analysis of production systems

We compare the carbon footprint of products produced from conventional and vertical farm systems. This carbon footprint analysis includes emissions from agriculture production, soil emissions, transportation of agriculture inputs such as fertilizer, compose, energy and transportation emissions.

Optimising controlled environment settings for other crops

We provide crop-specific case studies to provide a framework for optimising growth parameters to produce high-quality produce with minimal environmental impact. These strategies are developing new growth protocols to tackle the challenges and opportunities identified in chives, rocket, spinach, and chard. They also aim to reduce inputs and maximise productivity whilst maintaining high levels of product quality.