Welcome to iGrow News, Your Source for the World of Indoor Vertical Farming
Bringing Energy Management And Automation Opportunities To Indoor Farming
“We can’t be the most sustainable company in the world if we don’t work on the world’s biggest sustainability challenges,” says Travis Graham, international account manager at Schneider Electric. Schneider provides a vast array of digital technologies to multiple sectors, including horticulture
By Rebekka Boekhout
July 14, 2021
“We can’t be the most sustainable company in the world if we don’t work on the world’s biggest sustainability challenges,” says Travis Graham, international account manager at Schneider Electric. Schneider provides a vast array of digital technologies to multiple sectors, including horticulture. However, the company recently decided to strategically address the indoor farming segment and partner with growers to improve energy efficiencies within the sector.
As a global specialist in energy management and automation, Schneider’s goal is to empower the global population to improve their energy and resource use efficiency. This purpose, coined “Life is On”, aligns strongly with the spirit of indoor agriculture whose goal is to produce food and medicinal crops in an environmentally sustainable manner.
Named the world’s most sustainable company in 2021 by Corporate Knights, Schneider holds sustainability at its core and uses its century-long experience in energy management to help growers improve the energy efficiency of their facilities.
Read the rest of the article here
For more information:
Schneider Electric
www.se.com
Strategic Partnership Between Oreon And Enersavings, Inc.
The energy savings possibilities of Oreon’s LED grow lights made EnerSavings recognize the advantages of the sustainable water-cooling technology
IJsselstein, 4 May 2021. Oreon and the Canadian company EnerSavings Inc. have come to an agreement for a strategic partnership. EnerSavings is a leader in customized lighting retrofits throughout Canada with a presence in 7 provinces. As a lighting engineering firm, they continuously work on improvement and innovation. EnerSavings expertise in providing the most sustainable and energy-saving solutions to its customers, fits perfectly with the sustainable water-cooling technology of Oreon’s LED grow lights.
Energy saving solutions
In EnerSavings, Oreon sees a strong partner for the Canadian market. EnerSavings is based in Toronto, Ontario, and has over a decade of experience in the ever-increasing market demand for efficient lighting technologies. The energy savings possibilities of Oreon’s LED grow lights made EnerSavings recognize the advantages of the sustainable water-cooling technology. They see lots of opportunity for growers in the fixture’s high efficiency and the ability to reuse the gained heat and save on cooling costs. The active water-cooling makes it possible for the LED fixtures to efficiently produce a large amount of light without heating up the greenhouse or grow facility. Revenues are increased by lowering operating costs, and growers get full control over the climate in their facility. This results in high-quality yields year-round.
"EnerSavings is excited to partner with Oreon and expand its presence in the North American LED plant grow light market. The Oreon water-cooled fixture is by far the best grow light in the market today, bringing the highest value proposition to growers. Oreon was the first to bring an LED grow light to market in 2009 and its fixtures are the best built, and cheapest per micromole. The water-cooling ensures productive longevity second to none. The first install over a decade ago still has over 90 percent light output today!" – Jason Beer, Business Development Director of EnerSavings.
“With EnerSavings Inc. as a new dealer, Oreon creates a better connection to the Canadian market. Both Oreon and EnerSavings share the fact that we are both committed to providing sustainable LED solutions and tailored energy-saving solutions, so customers can reduce operating expenses and increase profits. With the expertise of EnerSavings in commercial horticulture projects, we see a promising future in this rapidly growing market,” says Bill Whittaker (North-American Sales Manager) of Oreon.
Combining Hydroponic And Aeroponic In Vertical Farming
Growers are finding new ways to drive the efficiency up and the cost down, and one of these solutions is vertical farming.
Generally speaking, horticulture operations can be quite expensive to operate; yet, growers can rely on hundreds of years of knowledge to improve the efficiency, so that those costs go down. At the same time, indoor farming cannot rely on such knowledge, and it is not uncommon to see cultivation facilities with huge bills at the end of the month. As the industry matures, growers are finding new ways to drive the efficiency up and the cost down, and one of these solutions is vertical farming.
LED technology
Nowadays, LED technology has made a huge leap forward, and Alvis Ma, the CEO of GrowSpec claims they are the industry standard. “Growers generally make the switch from HPS to LED for three reasons: increased yield, improved cannabinoid, and terpene content, and energy efficiency,” he explains. Thus, LEDs allow for vertical cultivation, which has a host of benefits, especially when it comes to space optimization.
“The VetriAero Planter system uses a mobile planting rack that reduces the ‘required’ indoor grow space area and extends the plant cultivation space by multiple tiers, maximizing growth space, increasing the yield and thus the profit,” Alvis Ma points out. “And if a grower wants to use one rack only initially, other tiers can be added later on: the helves can be connected to one another so that growers can modify the VetriAero Planter system length according to the size of the room.”
A very peculiar feature of this system is the integration of both aeroponic and hydroponic methods. “Instead of growing in soil, the roots are suspended in mid-air and surrounded by oxygen,” he adds. “The plant roots get misted directly with a nutrient-dense solution that gets sprayed to the roots every 3-5 minutes. At the same time, the remaining liquid at the bottom of our container ensures that, in the event of an emergency, there is still enough nutrient-dense liquid to sustain your plants for up to 48 hours.”
“Commercial indoor cultivation operations can be very expensive,” says Alvis Ma with GrowSpec. “And if you look at the cost of the real estate, added on top of substantial
power bills and staffing requirements, it becomes critical to find a way to increase profit and reduce overhead costs.” Exactly to respond to such a demand, GrowSpec has developed the VertiAero Planter system, a new vertical growing system. “One of the primary reasons why vertical farming is so attractive for growers is the improved performance of current LEDs,” Alvis Ma continues. “This is something that could not happen back in the day, as HPS has been the go-to lights for decades, and they produce a lot of heat; generally speaking, the plants have to be placed a couple of feet away from light to stay safe and healthy.”
Controlling the environment
Indoor growing, especially vertical growing, requires a particularly efficient airflow system to guarantee healthy growth for the plants. This has direct consequences on the growing environment. “Maintaining optimum temperature, humidity, and air circulation is challenging for all cannabis operations,” Alvis Ma remarks. “But in vertical growing, there is even more variability in macro and micro environmental conditions, because more plants make control more difficult.
That’s why the GrowSpec VertiAero’s multi-layer airflow solution improves the airflow rate in the micro-environment of the plant canopy by maintaining consistent plant canopy temperature and humidity, reducing the cultivation potential of harmful pathogens, and increasing the rate of photosynthesis by evenly distributing CO2 over the plant canopy. The system utilizes various sensors to detect crucial data points such as moisture change, for instance.”
Although such a system might sound complicated to use, user-friendliness and easiness of use are very well implemented. “The VertiAero Planter system integrates intelligent control and touchscreen control system so that your business can save up exponentially on overhead costs,” Alvis Ma points out. “At our core, we operate according to the highest standard, combining this with technology that respects our planet.”
For more information:
GrowSpec
Yuxin Industry Zone, Shishan Town, Nanhai, Foshan, Guangdong, China
+86-15914220731
UAE - iFarm, Palm Co. Win 'The CovHack Virtual Innovation Challenge' on Circular Food Economy
iFarm, from Finland, topped the Start-ups category, while Palm Co. from the UAE dominated the Teams category
(MENAFN - Emirates News Agency (WAM))
DUBAI, 21st July 2020
Innovate4Good, I4G, a purpose-driven sourcing, networking, and innovation platform for the impact start-up and entrepreneurship ecosystem, has announced the winners of "The CovHack Virtual Innovation Challenge" that took place under the theme "Circular Economy for Food".
iFarm, from Finland, topped the Start-ups category, while Palm Co. from the UAE dominated the Teams category.
iFarm is an indoor farming solutions provider of plug-and-play automated vertical farms that can be set up anywhere from stores, restaurants, and warehouses to people's homes and enable people to grow healthy food sustainably. Meanwhile, Palm Co. has developed sustainable, affordable, and compostable food packaging using palm fibers as the main component.
The runner-up in the Start-ups category was Xilinat, an award-winning company from Mexico that makes low-calorie natural sweetener from agricultural residue, while Circa Biotech from the UAE that upcycles food waste into animal feed using insect farming came second in the Teams category.
The challenge ran in collaboration with UN75, the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, MoCCAE, Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, Khalifa Fund, Masdar (A Mubadala Company), Catalyst (A Masdar BP Initiative), Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park, SRTI Park, StartLife, Wageningen University & Research, WUR, and STRATECIS.
Corresponding to the UN's Sustainable Development Goal, SDG, 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, the theme encompassed eight focus areas: Water Efficiency and Alternative Resources; Energy Efficiency in Agriculture; Innovation in Sustainable Growing Media; Sustainable Greenhouse Technologies and Smart Farming; Food Loss and Waste Management; Distribution Channels and Delivery; Sustainable Packaging; and Urban and Indoor Farming.
The challenge received 339 entries. A total of 112 applications 43 in the Teams category and 69 in the Start-ups category from 44 countries qualified for the challenge. A panel of 10 judges selected 12 teams from eight countries and 20 start-ups from 15 countries to proceed to the next round. The UAE had the strongest representation with four teams and four start-ups, followed by Lebanon with two teams and one start-up, and Canada with three start-ups.
The event culminated in The CovHack Virtual Demo Day on 20th and 21st July that saw the finalists present their solutions to the judges on Zoom.
Sheikh Dr. Majid Sultan Al Qassimi, Advisor to the Minister of Climate Change and Environment, said, "The journey food takes is one few of us know but are all affected by. Today, we have become more aware of and sensitized to the origin and journey of our food. The circular food economy is more relevant than ever, and the more these circular principles can be implemented, the stronger our future and economy will be."
Mouza Obaid Al Nasri, Acting CEO of Khalifa Fund, said, "Since its inception, Khalifa Fund has been committed to working in cross-sectoral collaborations with government entities and industry-leading partners to produce initiatives and programs that positively contribute to the UAE and its entrepreneurial ecosystem."
Ara Fernezian, Founder and CEO of STRATECIS and Chief Innovation and Experience Officer at I4G, said, "Today's entrepreneurs, especially the younger generation, are taking environmental and social issues into account more seriously, starting at the ideation stage of their offer and aligning them with their long-term business goals. This is becoming a growing trend and standard business practice."
The winners will benefit from incubation, mentorship, and acceleration support from MoCCAE, Khalifa Fund, and SRTI Park. The winner and runner-up in the Start-ups category iFarm and Xilinat will also have the chance to participate in Catalyst's and SRTI Park's acceleration programs with up to US$240,000 of funding opportunity, subject to eligibility.