Environment 60

The Prince of Wales opened the CO₂ capture facility at Rainbarrow Farm, Dorset, in the summer.

POLICY NEEDED FOR CLIMATE ACTION IN UK ARABLE SECTOR

The British arable sector offers many solutions to the climate challenge, but it needs the right policy environment if it is to fulfil its potential when it comes to preventing and managing the impacts of climate change, says the NFU.

NFU

nfuonline.com Speaking at the Cereals event in the summer, NFU President Minette Batters discussed the important role growers have to play in tackling climate change, the opportunities climate mitigation can offer arable businesses and the challenges faced.

Mrs Batters said: “The crops grown in the UK form the very basis of our diets, producing the raw ingredients for the nation’s pantry staples, but their significance does not end there. I truly believe that British farming businesses can be global leaders in climate-resilient food production and the arable sector is at the core of this.

“As we look down the road to net zero, growers have a rare ability to fuel the bioeconomy and have a positive impact on decarbonisation within both farming and other sectors. Our arable farmers are also uniquely placed to capture carbon through soil management, such as through green cover crops or reduced tillage systems, and it’s so important that government schemes such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) properly incentivise, support and reward this type of work.

“It’s really exciting that we will start to see E10 at petrol stations in a few months’ time and there will be further opportunities for farmers to direct more land and by-products into biomass production, renewable energy and carbon capture. It’s important that the contribution farmers can make toward the UK’s national net zero target by avoiding fossil fuel emissions and driving crucial greenhouse gas removal is recognised and encouraged in the government’s upcoming biomass strategy.

“But while our national and industry net zero ambitions will provide a variety of economic opportunities for growers, we can’t underestimate the challenges that will come with it.

“One challenge we face is around building climate resilience, both on a national scale and on an individual farm business basis to give our businesses the best chance of surviving and thriving in the future.

“But perhaps the biggest challenge of all will be how we actually value carbon and the services farming as an industry can provide. This is a hugely complex area and one which needs global collaboration and uptake, which is why our trade policy must also align itself to our net zero ambitions, otherwise we risk undermining the good work here and exporting our carbon footprint abroad.”

One challenge we face is around building climate resilience, both on a national scale and on an individual farm business basis to give our businesses the best chance of surviving and thriving in the future.

WORLD’S LARGEST VERTICAL FARM IS THE NEW ‘GARDEN OF ENGLAND’

The world’s largest vertical farm is taking root in Gloucestershire.

CGI of the world’s largest vertical farm, under construction in Gloucestershire. The Jones Food Company (JFC) – already the owner of Europe’s largest vertical farm near Scunthorpe – broke ground on the pioneering new development last month.

The new multi-million pound farm, in Lydney, will offer 148,000sq ft of growing space, comfortably making it the world’s largest vertical farm. It will be approximately the same size as almost 70 tennis courts and capable of supplying 1000 tonnes plus of fresh produce to thousands of UK supermarkets.

Founder and COP26 climate ambassador James Lloyd-Jones explained: “With this new facility we further accelerate Britain’s position as a world leader when it comes to vertical farming. We already supply thousands of British retail stores with basil grown in our first facility in Lincolnshire but this new site, which is three times bigger, will allow us to supply tens of thousands more stores and to widen our product offer with our partners.” The Jones Food Company was founded in 2017, opened its Lincolnshire facility in 2018 and secured backing from The Ocado Group in 2019. The new facility, dubbed JFC2, will open in early 2022 and supply supermarkets across the UK.

James added: “Our food supply chain is under significant stress, and with empty supermarket shelves and shortages of foods increasingly common place, vertical farming is undoubtedly a vital part of the UK’s and the world’s farming future.

“Given what we’re already doing, the world-leading technology we have and the intensely pressing need for more sustainable forms of farming over coming decades, we plan to be able to supply 70 per cent of the UK’s fresh produce within the next ten years.

“From an environmental perspective, vertical farming allows us to grow in 17 layers, so every acre becomes seventeen times more productive. It allows us to grow entirely without pesticides and

Our food supply chain is under significant stress, and with empty supermarket shelves and shortages of foods increasingly common place, vertical farming is undoubtedly a vital part of the UK’s and the world’s farming future.

using 95 per cent less water. And it means we can significantly reduce the air and road miles of the foods we grow.

“But vertical farming doesn’t just make environmental sense, it makes economic sense too. Scale is vital in order to create a cost base that allows us to deliver delicious, healthy herbs, salad leaves, cut flowers, fruit and veg at a price the average shopper also really likes. This second facility further cements our ability to do this.

“And this isn’t the end, we fully anticipate more facilities in other parts of country and around the world in coming years.

“We believe, through the latest vertical farming technology, the ‘garden of England’ can now grow in Cornwall, Gloucestershire, Yorkshire, Argyll, Fermanagh and pretty much any other county in this country or any other, providing sustainable solutions for the UK’s food chain. We’ve learnt so much, had such strong backing and have such amazing technology that we now believe we can replicate and replicate and replicate.

“I accept we’re currently a small part of the UK’s agriculture industry, but this move makes us mainstream, it makes us a really significant player in this country. And you only have to look at Germany, the Netherlands, the United States, across the Middle East and Asia to see this is a global movement, revolutionising the way the world grows produce – vertical farming is the future.

“Building the world’s biggest vertical farm puts the UK at the vanguard of this global movement – we’re leading the world’s vertical farming revolution.”

With its much more sustainable methods, the farm can grow 365 days per year, use much less water, zero chemical pesticides, and products have far less distance to travel to market.

Growing hydroponically means growing all year round; in other words, growing outside the traditional UK season and/or growing crops which don’t suit our climate/terrain.

Vertical farming almost completely removes the need for the resources which are designed to mitigate the external environment and the weather. By bringing growth indoors and taking away the wind, darkness, rain, and pests; growing no longer needs as much water, as much space or any chemical pesticides or herbicides.

The product mix at JFC2 includes:

Mint

Parsley

Coriander

Dill

Rocket

Spinach

Mixed salad (exact varieties tbc)

THE JONES FOOD COMPANY

jonesfoodcompany.co.uk

GLASGOW’S £30BN GREENPRINT OPEN FOR INVESTMENT

COP26 host, the City of Glasgow, has launched a £30bn investment strategy to help reach its Net Zero target by 2030. In the summer, the city announced it had already reduced carbon emissions by 41 per cent since 2006, surpassing the 30 per cent target set for 2020.

Greenprint for Investment is a portfolio of projects which aims to attract international and activist investors through a mix of decarbonising and transformative development opportunities.

The 10 Greenprint projects are:

Clyde Climate Forest: The aim is to plant 18 million trees in the region over the next decade. That is over 9,000 hectares (or 17,000 football fields) of new woodlands, increasing cover by 3% and significantly increasing atmospheric carbon sequestration through tree growth.

Glasgow City Region Home Energy Retrofit

Programme: A ten-year £10 billion programme to upgrade insulation in all homes in the City Region, exploring innovative renewable technologies to deliver clean energy.

Glasgow's District Heating Network: The focus is scaling up the achievements of the £154 million Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre to kick-start a wider district heating network. Two key projects in Polmadie and Gorbals Districts are testbeds and a proposal to harness the River Clyde for the city’s heat demands is underway.

Climate Neutral Innovation District:

The University of Strathclyde is leading an ambitious project to make the Glasgow City Innovation District 100% climate neutral and climate resilient, through 100% renewable heat, power, transport, climate adaptation and wellbeing solutions.

Charing Cross M8 Green Infrastructure

Cap: Plans will revitalise and re-green the city’s public realm including a cap over a major interchange of the M8, the busiest motorway in Scotland.

Glasgow Metro is a new transport initiative to provide accessible and affordable connections to over 1.8 million people.

Advanced Manufacturing Innovation

District Scotland: Scotland’s new home of