The V-FAST (Vertical Farming And Storage Technology) project aims to demonstrate a new type of infrastructural hub at the heart of the food-energy-water nexus. Focussing on the inextricable link between food and energy, this project aims to accelerate the decarbonisation targets, and broader environmental goals, of both sectors through cooperation and making the most of interdependent relationships, within and between each domain. The co-location of a new type of pumped hydroelectric energy storage with controlled environment agriculture could open up thousands of potential sites, where the power of water can regulate the intermittency of renewable generation, to serve the needs of weather-agnostic farms growing energy-hungry crops for protein-hungry people. Food produced will feed into local supply-chains all year round at the same time as having global environmental benefits by preventing the conversion of vital ecosystems into farmland, eliminating the emissions of transport and field mechanisation, and avoiding the impact of agricultural chemicals entering local ecosystems. Over the course of this two-year feasibility study, this partnership between vertical farmers Vertegrow, energy storage innovators RheEnergise, leading agricultural researchers at the James Hutton Institute, and controlled environment agriculture members network UK Urban AgriTech, will tackle all aspects of the feasibility assessment: the cultivation of novel crops in vertical farms and the assessment of their nutritive value; the sizing, siting and integration of RheEnergise's High-Density Hydro storage; the environmental & economic sustainability of these food-energy systems; and the commercial landscape and routes from farm to plate. The completion of this comprehensive feasibility work, and any subsequent practical demonstrator project, will mark a major step towards realising the longstanding ambitions of controlled environment agriculture to contribute meaningfully to a sustainable, decarbonised food system, as well as revealing many lessons applicable to energy storage collocations in other sectors. By completing this work, the consortium will move one step closer to delivering sustainable, decarbonised food and energy directly to local communities.

Intelligent Growth Solutions (UK) and GRAIN International Pte Ltd (Singapore) aim to future-proof agriculture using integrated controlled environment agriculture (CEA) technologies for three (3) verticals - Food, Farmstead (Agro-foresty/Plantations) and Fragrance industry. 1. Food: The proposed project focuses on introducing crop species with high protein content as a valuable proposition for CEA farms. CEA technology has been established predominantly for leafy vegetables and fruiting crops, however once completed, this project will broaden applications to include new crop categories for commercial cultivation. 2. Farmstead/Farm Forest: agro-forestry and plantations are an important value chain for the global agriculture industry. Agro-forestry and plantation tree species contribute towards soil health, regulate microclimates, enhance carbon sequestration, improve biodiversity and provide a livelihood for the growers. This vertical will exploit the CEA technology and the consortium's capabilities to establish high-value saplings for the industry. 3. Fragrance: High-value functional plant species have a bigger role to play in the success of indoor growing. Under the third vertical, the consortium will focus on plant species that have been ranked amongst the most high-value in the world. The project will develop the cultivation/growth recipes using CEA technologies and establish the recipes for commercial cultivation.

To embed capability in scalable digitalisation, lifecycle analysis and design optimisation, to support the environmental and performance optimisation of our transformative vertical farming platform, addressing a global demand for accessible, productive, sustainable and secure agricultural practices.

SYS-SENS is a multidisciplinary effort designed to target one of the key challenges facing society - that of ensuring sustainable food production for future generations whilst reducing the negative effects on the environment. Over the last decade the effects of climate change, and in recent months COVID-19, have highlighted the incredibly fragile nature of our current food production operations and served as yet another reminder that there is a real and present necessity to optimise our food production systems and accelerate efforts towards decarbonisation and sustainability which will in turn boost local food production. It has become evident that we need to shorten our supply chains if we are to help decarbonise the food supply chains and also to increase our food self-sufficiency. Controlled environment agriculture (CEA), including vertical farming, has advanced significantly over the last 5-10 years delivering major savings in water and nutrient use compared to existing crop production and, with the advances in energy sourcing and management, looks set to be a sustainable route to producing a significant proportion of our food and reduce the reliance on just-in-time imports, valued at £14bn in 2018 (Controlled Environment Agriculture. Savills 2019). This project brings together experts in crop biology, phenotyping, controlled environment agriculture/vertical farms, photonics, remote sensing and product delivery as a first step to designing a product for the accurate and non-invasive measurement of crop stresses and their relationship to food nutritional content/maturity and production optimisation. These relationships will form the bases of sensor-derived algorithms that will, through integration with the vertical farm data management system, facilitate continuous produce optimisation, increased productivity and reduced carbon footprint. Here a pilot trial will be undertaken in a state-of-the-art commercial vertical farm demonstrator (IGS) to determine value in an operational controlled environment agriculture setting. Proof of the concept and subsequent commercialisation of the sensor will allow (UK and global) CEA food producers to optimise their operations leading to lower energy, fertiliser & water use whilst simultaneously delivering higher nutritional value foods to the consumer.

To develop the capacity to control plant-microbe interactions within the novel growth system to optimise crop production by reducing waste through spoilage whilst generating a risk framework for ensuring future food safety compliance.

To develop, test and validate revolutionary high intensity crop growing systems that will produce consistent, high quality products year round with a limited environmental footprint.