Welcome to iGrow News, Your Source for the World of Indoor Vertical Farming
Sprout AI Inc. Vertical Farming Aims To Provide Sustainable Solutions To Global Food Production
Sprout AI is committed to both environmental and social sustainability
Begins Growth Initiatives After Completion of Go Public Transaction and Financing
July 29, 2021
Source: Sprout AI Inc
Calgary, Alberta, July 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via InvestorWire – Sprout AI Inc. ("Sprout AI" or the "Company") (CSE: SPRT) is a technologically focused, sustainable vertical farming company that has developed scalable controlled aeroponic cultivation habitats. Sprout AI’s technology will provide solutions to the ever-increasing complexities surrounding the current and future supply of sustainable global food production and supply chain.
Sprout AI is committed to both environmental and social sustainability. With a lowered carbon footprint, Sprout AI provides solutions to many of the negative environmental impacts generated by conventional farming methods, including over-fertilization, long transport distances, and biodiversity disturbances. Social sustainability is enhanced through increased food security from a simplified supply chain, especially during Covid-19, higher density production in a world with declining arable land per capita, and a food supply less susceptible to drought, floods, wildfires, disease, and overall climate change.
The Company’s vision is to be a leader in sustainable vertical cultivation technology by ensuring each harvest is of high quality, high yield, and with minimal product variability. The adaptive AI monitored aeroponic system generates less waste and requires a fraction of the water needed for outdoor, aquaponic, or hydroponic farming. As growth statistics from across the globe are collected, the learning technology will continue to perfect the growing formula, reducing the growth cycle and increasing future output. Additionally, the self-contained habitats reduce cross-contamination and disease which reduces the risk of large crop failures.
The Sprout AI habitats are highly relevant in urban and remote areas alike, and can be assembled in any structure throughout the world that meets, or can meet, food-grade requirements, mitigating the need for a purpose-built structure and allowing it to take advantage of virtually any vacant indoor space.
The Value of Sprout AI
Local Availability. Achieve consistent, year-round local supply of indigenous and non-indigenous produce that is agnostic to seasons, climates, weather and geographies.
Environmentally Friendly. Up to 95% water savings(1), significant reduction in fossil fuel required to plant, sow, fertilize and transport crops, and reduces land use and biodiversity disturbances.
Risk Mitigation. Mitigation against natural disasters such as hail and wildfires that can wipe out entire crops, droughts and infestations that can adversely impact yields, and supply chain impacts such as Covid-19.
Consistent Quality. Controlled, repeatable growing conditions allow for consistent quality produce that can be rapidly delivered to local markets and reduces the number of perishables from long range shipping.
Meeting Organic Preferences. Consumer preferences are evolving to more natural, organic products(2). The controlled environment of vertical farming reduces the need for chemicals and pesticides.
Enhanced Food Safety. Tracking and recall of local produce serving a local market is more manageable than produce grown in international jurisdictions and shipped to a broad network of international markets.
Feeding a Growing Population. Up to 100x more productive than traditional methods(3), providing a solution to feed a growing global population amid a decrease in arable land per capita(4).
The Sprout AI Business Model and Growth Initiatives
Sprout AI is focused on a two-pronged approach to continue to commercialize its technology. Both paths are intended to provide ongoing, recurring revenue; (i) turnkey unit sales to third parties with ongoing support, and (ii) the construction of proprietary vertical farms owned 100% by Sprout AI or in a joint venture or partner format. These proprietary farms will utilize Sprout AI technology and be branded under Beyond FarmsTM, a trademark owned by Sprout AI.
Since completing the go public transaction and financing on July 5th, 2021, Sprout AI has aggressively expanded its resource base, and has begun to fulfill its first third party sales of Sprout AI units. Sprout AI has also begun discussions with potential partners for the construction of a sustainably operated Beyond FarmsTM vertical farming facility in Canada, and potentially other jurisdictions around the world.
More information about the business of the Company can be found in the final long-form prospectus of Sprout AI dated May 31, 2021, and the listing statement dated June 30, 2021, both available on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
About Sprout AI
Sprout AI is a vertical farming technology company in the business of planning, designing, manufacturing and/or assembling sustainable and scalable AI-controlled vertical cultivation equipment for indoor vertical farming. The adaptive technology produces an environment with improved growing parameters and early detection of adverse conditions resulting in consistent and repeatable crops, with shorter cultivation cycles independent of geographic climates. The self-contained multi-level rolling rack technology increases the cubic cultivation area while mitigating the risk of outside and cross-contaminants.
For more information about Sprout AI, please visit http://sproutai.solutions
Chief Executive Officer
Chris Bolton
Sprout AI Inc.
Phone: +011 (507) 6384-8734
E-mail: mainweb@sproutai.solutions
Investor Relations Contact
Colleen McKay
Tel: (289) 231-9026
E-mail: cmckay@sproutai.solutions
Website: http://sproutai.solutions
Address: International Business Park, Unit 5B, Building 3860
Panama Pacifico, Republic of Panama
THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE, NOR HAS OR DOES THE CSE'S REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, with respect to the Company. The forward-looking information included in this news release is not based on historical facts, but rather on the expectations of the Company's management regarding the future growth of the Company, its results of operations, performance, business prospects, and opportunities. This news release uses words such as "will", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", or similar expressions to identify forward-looking information. Such forward-looking information reflects the current beliefs of the Company's management, based on information currently available to them.
This forward-looking information includes, among other things, statements relating to: the intentions, plans, and future actions of the Company; statements relating to the business and future activities of the Company and anticipated developments in operations of the Company. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, intentions, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by the Company in light of the experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, and expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate and are subject to risks and uncertainties.
Although the Company believes that the assumptions underlying these statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect, and there can be no assurance that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Given these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, prospective investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Whether actual results, performance, or achievements will conform to the expectations and predictions of the Company is subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors, including: global or national health concerns, including the outbreak of pandemic or contagious diseases, such as COVID-19 and including the evolution of new variants of COVID-19, the duration and effect thereof and delays relating to vaccine development, procurement and distribution; risks relating to the effective management of the Company's growth; liabilities and risks, including environmental liabilities and risks associated with the Company's operations; the Company's ability to attract and retain customers; the competitive nature of the industries in which the Company operates; and the other risk factors described in the Company's final long form prospectus dated May 31, 2021.
If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results might vary materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Information contained in forward-looking statements in this news release is provided as of the date of this news release, and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or future events or results, except to the extent required by applicable Canadian securities laws. Accordingly, potential investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, or the information contained in those statements.
All of the forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements.
Columbia University Earth Institute. “How Sustainable Is Vertical Farming? Students Try to Answer the Question”
Fortune Business Insights. “Organic Foods Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Raw Material/Commodity (Fruits and Vegetables, Cereals and Grains, Others), By End-use (Bakery & Confectionery, Ready-to-eat food products, Breakfast Cereals, Processing Industry, Others), By Distribution Channel (Direct Market, Processing Industry) and Regional Forecast 2019-2026”
Plant Factory: An Indoor Vertical Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production. Toyoki Kozai, Genhua Niu and Michiko Takagaki.
The World Bank
Wire Service Contact
InvestorWire (IW)
Los Angeles, California
www.InvestorWire.com
212.418.1217 Office
Editor@InvestorWire.com
Global Warming, Decreased Crop Yields, And The Food Waste Industry
With the withdrawal of the US from the Paris Agreement and the proposal of the Green New Deal, concerns continue to grow over global warming and the stability of our food supply
November 4, 2020
Written by Daniel Cunniffe
With the withdrawal of the US from the Paris Agreement and the proposal of the Green New Deal, concerns continue to grow over global warming and the stability of our food supply.
Will global warming affect crop yields?
Among the many impacts of global warming, the two that would likely affect crop yields the most are rising sea levels and more severe, unpredictable climate conditions. Rising sea levels would reduce the land available for farming and severe, unpredictable climate conditions such as strong tropical storms, floods, drought, altered growing regions, or even less rain during the year could decrease crop yields, change the types of crops traditionally grown on a farm, or even make that land unusable for farming.
Smaller crop yields and a smaller food waste industry
The food waste industry depends on the food industry and its crops for raw materials. A decreased crop yield means less food, less food waste, and a decreased food waste industry. One impact of a decreased food waste supply is greater competition between food waste businesses for fewer raw materials. Additionally, if crop yields decrease, the price of food increases, leading consumers to utilize more of a food’s edible potential - a secondary decrease in food waste. Bones, eggshells, and banana peels are commonly thrown away, yet all of these are edible and are more likely to be consumed under conditions of food scarcity.
Different climate conditions, different crops, different food waste industry
Traditionally, farms were handed down from father to son or daughter, where the parent would teach the children what types of crops they could grow along with all of the intricate details and tricks to growing those crops.
Crops that a farm can grow is largely based on the climate conditions of the growing region they’re in, which in turn affects things like soil type, humidity level, etc - all of which are prime factors that allow for healthy crop growth. Global warming will likely shift these growing zones for certain crops. For example, say global warming turns the climate of Canada to that of Mexico, where once Canadian farmers could only grow cold weather crops, now they instead grow oranges.
The idea is that a farm may experience changes in the types of crops they can grow and thus this changes the crops available to local food waste companies. Companies that use waste from a single crop, may have to move locations, ship that food waste from a distant farm, or go out of business altogether as growing zones shift. This will in turn affect the food waste supply chain in ways that the industry may not be prepared for. Growing zones are not concerned with political borders.
If a company depends on a certain crop and the growing region of that crop shifts outside of the country, that company may have to ship food from outside of the country and take on additional costs, such as customs and taxes.
What can the food waste industry do about global warming?
Enter soilless systems - They can be grown indoors and protect crops from severe weather conditions like, droughts, pathogens, and pests. Additionally, companies like Re-Nuble are reducing the carbon footprint of the food supply chain through closed loop agriculture which allows us to avoid further global warming and empower farmers to increase crop yields. This will further ensure a stable food supply, healthy environment, and healthy food for our future.
Tags: closed loop, crop yields, food supply chain, global warming
Lead Image Source: https://sustyvibes.com/impact-climate-change-agriculture
VIDEO: Wallenius Marine Develops World's Largest Wind-Powered Vessel To Slash Shipping Emissions
Developed in collaboration with Sweden's KTH Royal Institute of Technology and naval research institute SSPA, the Oceanbird project hopes to mitigate the environmental impact of maritime freight transport, which accounts for all but 10 percent of trade in the whole world
Swedish shipping company Wallenius Marine is developing a ship called Oceanbird, which could transport 7,000 cars and trucks across the Atlantic propelled only by the wind.
The concept, which is essentially an outsized sailboat, would be twice as high as the largest comparable vessel due to the five 80-meter-tall sails that protrude from its hull.
These purportedly would make it the world's largest wind-powered vessel, capable of traveling across the ocean to the US at a speed of 10 knots and with a total journey time of 12 days.
Wallenius Marine claims that Oceanbird will be the world's largest wind-powered vessel
According to Wallenius Marine, this is only four days longer than a carrier powered by fossil fuel while emitting 90 percent less CO2 in the process.
Developed in collaboration with Sweden's KTH Royal Institute of Technology and naval research institute SSPA, the Oceanbird project hopes to mitigate the environmental impact of maritime freight transport, which accounts for all but 10 percent of trade in the whole world.
In 2018 alone, the shipping industry emitted 937 million tonnes of CO2, which is more than all of Germany. If it were a country, the sector would be the sixth-largest emitter in the world, just behind Japan.
Related story
Rolls-Royce touts remote-controlled cargo ship as "future of the maritime industry"
"We only have one planet and it's important that we take responsibility and ensure that this planet will be a good place to live for future generations," said Wallenius Marine's COO Per Tunell.
"Shipping plays a very important role in today's society but it's also a large contributor to harmful emissions and that cannot continue, so we need to act."
In order to try and rival the speed of an engine-powered ship, the Oceanbird would make use of wingsails rather than traditional fabric sails. These resemble solid fins made of steel and various composites, much like the wings of an airplane.
The ship is propelled forwards by five wingsails
"Airplane wings are asymmetrical in profile because they should only produce a lift upwards," explained the ship's naval architect Carl-Johan Söder.
"But our wings are symmetrical because we should be able to produce lift regardless of if you have wind coming in from the port tack [left side] or the starboard tack [right side of the ship]. The wings can rotate 360 degrees so you can optimize the angle depending on the wind direction relative to the ship."
They are also telescopic, meaning they could be retracted to 60 meters in order to pass under bridges and mitigate turbulence caused by strong winds.
It could transport 7,000 vehicles
When the sails are at their tallest and propped up on the ship's hull, they would reach up to 105 meters above the waterline. In comparison, a regular sailboat reaches only up to 30 to 35 meters into the air.
"No part of our sail is lower than 30 metres so we are using a piece of the atmospheric boundary layer above the ocean, where basically people have not been before," said Jakob Kuttenkeuler, a professor in naval architecture at KTH.
"Airplanes are above and boats are below. So we've put quite a lot of effort into measuring the atmospheric boundary layer."
Wallenius Marine hopes to build a fully functioning Oceanbird by 2024
Wallenius Marine attached sensors to its existing vessels in order to measure how the wind direction and velocity changes at such heights, in order to optimize both the wingsails as well as the fins at the bottom of the hull.
These can be moved against the direction of the wind, in order to prevent the boat from drifting off course.
For emergencies and maneuvering in and out of ports, the ship would also be equipped with an auxiliary motor, which Wallenius Marine claim runs on clean energy.
Unlike the wings of an airplane, the wingsails are symmetrical
At the moment, the ship is still in the prototyping stage, with a seven-meter tall model set to be trialed in Stockholm's harbor to gather data and optimize its performance and aerodynamics.
But the company says it could be taking orders from 2021 with the aim to deliver the first, complete vessel by the end of 2024.
The sails reach up to 80 meters high
Ireland's B9 Shipping and French start-up Neoline have developed similar designs for cargo ships, which make use of tall fabric sails to harness wind power.
Neoline is already planning to establish a new shipping route between Saint-Nazaire in western France and the East Coast of the US by 2022 and has signed a development deal with Renault to look at using its ships to transport the manufacturer's cars.
Another Swedish company, X Shore, has recently released an electric boat for private passenger travel in the hopes of bringing emission-free maritime travel to a broader market.
Read more:
Design Sustainable design Transport New Boats Technology Ships
Coastal Erosion In The Arctic Intensifies Global Warming
Sea level rise in the past led to the release of greenhouse gases from permafrost
10. September 2018 | Alfred-Wegener-Institut
The loss of arctic permafrost deposits by coastal erosion could amplify climate warming via the greenhouse effect. A study using sediment samples from the Sea of Okhotsk on the eastern coast of Russia led by AWI researchers revealed that the loss of Arctic permafrost at the end of the last glacial period led to repeated sudden increases in the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere.
Today, the exact magnitude of the future increase in greenhouse gas concentrations remains unknown. This is partly due to the fact that carbon dioxide is not only produced by humans burning gas, coal and oil; it can also find its way into the atmosphere as a result of natural environmental processes. The positive feedback between warming and the release of ever increasing amounts of carbon dioxide from natural sources is a particular threat. In order to enable a better assessment of whether, and how, such developments are possible, climate researchers study records from the past to find evidence of these events.
Eroding coastline at a Siberian island (Photo: Guido Grosse)
Researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) together with colleagues from Copenhagen and Zurich have now found evidence of this phenomenon for the Arctic permafrost regions. As the authors report in the journal Nature Communications, through their investigations along the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk in eastern Russia, they were able to show that several thousand years ago large quantities of carbon dioxide were released from Arctic permafrost – due to a rapid rise of sea level. Permafrost is ground that remains frozen year round down to depths of up to several hundred metres, some since the last glacial period 20,000 years ago or even longer. Like a giant freezer, permafrost soils preserve huge quantities of dead biomass, mainly plant remains. When the permafrost thaws, bacteria start degrading the ancient biomass, and their metabolisms release the greenhouses gases carbon dioxide and methane.
Preparing the Multicorer on RV Sonne (Photo: Thomas Ronge)
We now know that about 11,500, 14,600 and 16,500 years ago, significant and sudden rises in the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere occurred, but the reasons for these three rapid fluctuations remain poorly understood. In order to investigate the causes, a group of researchers led by AWI geologists Dr Maria Winterfeld and Prof Dr Gesine Mollenhauer set off for the Sea of Okhotsk. “Originally we assumed that at the time, the vast Amur River carried tremendous quantities of plant material from the hinterland, which microorganisms in the water then broke down into carbon dioxide. So we collected sediment samples from the sea floor, which we then analysed.” The findings were surprising: deep in the sediment, the researchers found evidence of plant remains that had been deposited on the sea floor. These were several thousand years older than the surrounding deposits, which made it clear that they must have originated in extremely old permafrost that for some reason had suddenly thawed. Particularly large amounts of these plant remains were washed into the sea 11,500, 14,600 and 16,500 years ago. But the Amur’s discharge rate was not significantly higher at those times.
Gesine Mollenhauer and her team found the solution to this puzzle when they looked at the changes in sea level since the last glacial period. About 11,500 and 14,600 years ago, particularly intense melting of the ice-sheets led to what are known as meltwater pulses – and each time the sea level rose by up to 20 metres within a few centuries. “We assume that this resulted in severe erosion of the permafrost coast in the Sea of Okhotsk and the North Pacific – a phenomenon that we can observe in the Arctic today.” This allowed large amounts of several-thousand-year-old plant remains to enter the ocean, some of which were broken down into carbon dioxide by bacteria or deposited in the ocean floor.
To determine whether such permafrost erosion could indeed have been a key factor in increases in the global carbon dioxide concentration, AWI colleague Dr Peter Köhler used a computer model to simulate the global carbon cycle. By estimating the area of permafrost lost to the sea at the time, he obtained data on the likely amount of carbon dioxide released. The results are eye opening: 11,500 and 14,600 years ago, erosion of Arctic permafrost probably contributed to about 50 percent of the carbon dioxide increase, and 16,500 years ago to about a quarter.
The AWI team has thus revealed a process that could become reality in the future. Today the Arctic’s permafrost coast is eroding severely because the region is warming rapidly – in some places the coast is receding at a rate of 20 metres per year. As Gesine Mollenhauer explains: “Our findings show that this coastal erosion is an important process, but to date it has not been sufficiently considered in climate models. Such effects need to be included in future models.”
Original publication
Maria Winterfeld, Gesine Mollenhauer, Wolf Dummann, Peter Köhler, Lester Lembke-Jene, Vera D. Meyer, Jens Hefter, Cameron McIntyre, Lukas Wacker, Ulla Kokfelt, Ralf Tiedemann: Deglacial mobilization of pre-aged terrestrial carbon from degrading permafrost. Nature Communications (2018), DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06080-w.