TAEDA Tech Project

A nice article from Vertical Farm Daily, summarising the AgriTech events from last week in the UK. The UK agritech sector was in the spotlight last week, with a lineup of impactful events showcasing Controlled Environment Agriculture ( #CEA) and biomass innovations. From the Farm Business Innovation Show in The NEC, Birmingham, where CEA drew strong interest as a farm diversification strategy, to the Biomass Connect 🌱  showcase at the University of Warwick, attendees explored new paths to sustainability, resilience, and net-zero. At the Farm Business Innovation Show, Mark Horler, founder of UK Urban AgriTech (UKUAT), noted a growing market for CEA among farmers looking to diversify, with scalable options ranging from high-tech containerised systems to simpler #hydroponic setups. UKUAT members and partners—like Farm Urban, the University of Glasgow, Biorenewables Development Centre, Wild & Flo and the V-FAST project —shared insights on how CEA can offer fresh revenue streams for farms. “Farmers were really interested in learning how CEA could fit into their business models,” Horler said, emphasising the sector’s potential to help farmers adapt to industry challenges. At the same time, Agri-TechE ’s Agri-Tech Week at University of Essex, university celebrated its 11th year, connecting researchers, innovators, and industry leaders through workshops, farm visits, and the REAP conference. Katia Kouloumprouka Zacharaki of UKUAT remarked on the impressive advancements in CEA, from software engineering to plant science, stressing the importance of aligning innovation with commercial goals to meet end-user needs. Rounding off the week, Biomass Connect 🌱  highlighted the potential of UK-produced biomass in driving net-zero goals. Dr Zoe M Harris  presented on the TAEDA Tech Project, a £4M Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) - funded initiative exploring sustainable willow propagation using aeroponics, led by the University of Surrey. This event marked another step forward in UK agriculture’s commitment to sustainability and innovation. #CEA #Biomass #AgriTech #Sustainability #NetZero #Innovation Rebekka Boekhout

A nice article from Vertical Farm Daily, summarising the AgriTech events from last week in the UK. The UK agritech sector was in the spotlight last week, with a lineup of impactful events showcasing Controlled Environment Agriculture ( #CEA) and biomass innovations. From the Farm Business Innovation Show in The NEC, Birmingham, where CEA drew strong interest as a farm diversification strategy, to the Biomass Connect 🌱  showcase at the University of Warwick, attendees explored new paths to sustainability, resilience, and net-zero. At the Farm Business Innovation Show, Mark Horler, founder of UK Urban AgriTech (UKUAT), noted a growing market for CEA among farmers looking to diversify, with scalable options ranging from high-tech containerised systems to simpler #hydroponic setups. UKUAT members and partners—like Farm Urban, the University of Glasgow, Biorenewables Development Centre, Wild & Flo and the V-FAST project —shared insights on how CEA can offer fresh revenue streams for farms. “Farmers were really interested in learning how CEA could fit into their business models,” Horler said, emphasising the sector’s potential to help farmers adapt to industry challenges. At the same time, Agri-TechE ’s Agri-Tech Week at University of Essex, university celebrated its 11th year, connecting researchers, innovators, and industry leaders through workshops, farm visits, and the REAP conference. Katia Kouloumprouka Zacharaki of UKUAT remarked on the impressive advancements in CEA, from software engineering to plant science, stressing the importance of aligning innovation with commercial goals to meet end-user needs. Rounding off the week, Biomass Connect 🌱  highlighted the potential of UK-produced biomass in driving net-zero goals. Dr Zoe M Harris  presented on the TAEDA Tech Project, a £4M Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) - funded initiative exploring sustainable willow propagation using aeroponics, led by the University of Surrey. This event marked another step forward in UK agriculture’s commitment to sustainability and innovation. #CEA #Biomass #AgriTech #Sustainability #NetZero #Innovation Rebekka Boekhout

Today and yesterday, the TAEDA tech team was participating at the Biomass Connect 🌱 showcase event at the University of Warwick. The TEADA team brought with them a whole experimental system (iteration 2.0) to demonstrate the work we are doing in the aeroponic method for cultivation of large woody crops for biomass production. Dr Zoe M Harris, as the principal investigator of the project, presented the latest work of the team and shared our aspirations for the future projects and collaborations. The event sparked collaborative discussions on the crucial role of UK-produced biomass in the drive towards net-zero. A fantastic opportunity to connect, learn, and shape the future of biomass! If you wish to connect with us, email us at info@taedatechnologies.com #Biomass #Innovation #NetZero #Sustainability

We've closed this year's Annual Assembly with a focus on collaborating for #impact. It's been fantastic to connect with colleagues and stakeholders old and new, forging new ways to work together on sustainable #biomass use. Our morning session highlighted work to diffuse UK research knowledge, from investigating land use in Europe to increasing digitalisation and AI in the #bioenergy industry, with biomass fractionation via ionic liquids in between. Sessions on public and policy engagement helped us understand the wider context of our work and where it can make an impact. Over lunch, we held our first Industry Forum, connecting industrialists and academics to address the challenge of carbon utilisation within #BECCUS. Thanks to Samantha Smith from REA for chairing the session, and to Michael Burnett from Innovate UK, Sarah Davidson from Croda and Richard Jackson from Standard Gas Technologies Ltd for their pitch presentations on the opportunities and challenges. We also held the Super(gen) marketplace to showcase broader activities such as early career researcher development and equality, diversity and inclusion, and six new funded projects. We were thrilled to have two keynote speakers for the afternoon's incubation and commercialisation session. Andrew Cornell from Advanced Biofuel Solutions Ltd talked us through the learnings from the Swindon #gasification plant, while Dr Zoe M Harris Harris from University of Surrey introduced the TAEDA Tech Project, which is making incredible strides in #aeroponics research and development. We also heard from two of the Supergen technology development projects on gasification for net negative emissions and #hydrogen production via mediated electrolysis of biomass. We closed with our researchers reading postcards from our future to get us thinking about the impact our work will have in the wider context, before Patricia Thornley elaborated on the theme and gave us food for thought on the journey home. Thank you to all our project leads and researchers, the organising team and all participants for making it such a successful event. Rob Holland Jalil Yesufu PhD Pedro Nakasu Benaissa Dekhici Michael Short Daniel Taylor Freya Horsfield, Ph.D. Manosh Paul Jason Hallett Fabian Ejim Lewis MacDonald Jun Li Ian Watson Ruoyang Yuan Spiridon (Spiros) Siouris Dan Taylor Rebecca Fothergill Scott Banks Paula H Blanco Sanchez Abdallah Abu Saleh Mirjam Röder Akshay Bagde Michael Gargaro Dan Abudu Collette Larkin Rakhi Parmar Nuala MacAlister Catriona Heaton

Less than 24 hours left to register for day 2 of our Annual Assembly in Sheffield next week! Register here: bit.ly/SBH-AA24 Tickets for day 1 are sold out, but you can still register to join us next Wednesday for sessions on: - Public perceptions of biomass and bioenergy - Land use - Biomass fractionation - Digitalisation of the bioenergy industry - Government policy priorities and where bioenergy fits in - Our first official Industry Forum meeting (bit.ly/4f3vrDO) on the utilisation options for BECCUS - The Super(gen)market - New funding opportunity - Incubation and commercialisation keynotes from Zoe Harris 🚀from TAEDA Tech Project and Andrew Cornell from Advanced Biofuel Solutions Ltd - Gasification of biomass for negative emissions - Hydrogen production via mediated electrolysis of biomass More information and FAQs are on Eventbrite: bit.ly/SBH-AA24

Last week we officially opened the doors to our Aeroponic Innovation Centre in Bristol 🌿 This site marks our focus on efficient greenhouse farming, to direct aeroponic technology into facilities where it can have the greatest impact. Thank you to all our guests who joined us for the day, it was a pleasure to celebrate with you all! Watch this space for more about what we showcased at the event. #agritech #aeroponics #horticulture #sustainablefarming

We're delighted that our very own project lead Dr Zoe M Harris will be giving the upcoming Supergen Bioenergy Hub annual assembly - see details below!

📢 PROJECT NEWS! We are delighted to be playing our part in a £14.5m Forestry England project to upgrade its tree nursery in Cheshire. The new facility, which is due to open in spring 2025, will be the largest in the UK, testing and processing up to four tonnes of tree seeds each year. As part of the project, our team is creating a new 'miniplug' growing facility which will more than double the capacity of the ‘standing out area’. This is the protected area where tree seedlings continue to grow after they leaving the glasshouse to become acclimatised to outdoor conditions. This computer-controlled environment will use a combination of fans, shade screens and roof ventilation to regulate the temperature, humidity and light levels for the growing trees. The development will allow Forestry England to process more seed, and from a greater variety of tree species, spread across the nation’s forests. Douglas fir, western red cedar and Norway spruce will be amongst the focus species because they are expected to grow well and become more prominent as sources of high-quality timber in England’s future climate conditions. Jason Tether, Project Manager for CambridgeHOK, said: “We’re delighted to work with Forestry England on this innovative project. "We have designed and are installing a specialist conveyor system which will allow the heavy containers of growing trees to be moved seamlessly between different zones during the growing cycle. “Having worked with Forestry England on the glasshouse growing system a few years ago, we’re pleased to create the best solution for this important expansion to their container and benching system and be part of increasing the capacity of their growing operation.” Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eN-F52rZ #forestry #sustainability #research #glasshouse #resilience

We're very excited about the upcoming Biomass Connect 🌱Showcase event. A strong contingent from Team Taeda will be there, along with one of our systems. We hope to see you there! https://lnkd.in/egsfC3Dy

It was exciting to attend the Association of Applied Biologists conference at Aberystwyth University, Wales with my colleagues James Suckling and @xia yuqing. I presented a speed-talk (2 minutes) and a poster based on my current research on indoor forest nursery using aeroponics. TAEDA Tech Project is leading on this project funded by DESNZ. Discussion at the conference was centred around Bioenergy crops; the agronomy , the science and engineering and the policies. Participants were from all over the world especially from US, Europe and Asia. It was also interesting to see how governments are showing commitment to fight against climate change. I believe governments of African countries are also doing something about this?