- Horticultural lighting solution enables environmental benefits
including 90% less water, 50% less fertiliser, reduced energy and
carbon footprint
- High-care operation creates opportunities to redefine the future of
global food, pharma and cosmetics with industrial scale production
- Clean room automation enables “no touch” harvesting versus an
average of 13 human contact stages
Company Website:
http://www.currentbyge.com
LONDON & AMSTERDAM -- (Business Wire)
Current, powered by GE (NYSE: GE) and Jones Food Company Ltd. (JFC),
today announced that construction is underway toward building one of the
world’s largest indoor farms. The intensive plant nursery, located in
North Lincolnshire, England, will be the largest indoor farm in Europe,
producing up to 420 tonnes of leafy greens per year across a growing
area of 5120m2, arranged in racks rising to the height of
11m. To maximize the facility’s yield, Current by GE is installing more
than 12Km of its new Arize* LED horticultural lighting
solution, with a balanced light spectrum that catalyses optimal growth
in every plant and shortens the growth cycle for more intensive
production.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180607005249/en/
The impact of indoor farming with Current by GE Arize lighting solution (Graphic: Business Wire)
The equipment is housed within a futuristic, intelligent cleanroom (or
“high-care”) environment that allows crops to be grown in complete
isolation from external contamination – ideal for food production as
well as growing high-quality cosmetic and pharmaceutical ingredients.
Production of the first crop from the Jones Food Company operation is
due to start in autumn 2018.
“Nobody has been able to scale indoor, high-care intensive food
production to an industrial level that demonstrates real commercial
viability,” explained James Lloyd-Jones, CEO and co-founder of JFC. “We
knew that lighting would be the lifeblood of the facility and we’d need
a partner who could see the potential and work with us to develop the
right lighting set-up and spectrum to make our vision a reality.”
The world’s largest high-care indoor farm
With a growing area of 5120m2, the equivalent of 26 tennis
courts, arranged across racks rising to a height of just over three
storeys, the facility – owned and operated by JFC – will set new
production and environmental standards for crop production of the
future. With year-round local production JFC aims to slash food miles
and produce leafy greens, herbs and other crops that can be delivered
from harvest to plate in minimal time.
In addition, by designing the farm as a “high-care” facility, JFC will
also be able to cater to the growing demands of cosmetics and
pharmaceutical customers who require reliable supplies of the highest
quality, natural ingredients. Every factor in the growth of the crops
produced will be highly controlled; from the nutrient solution delivered
to the roots of each and every plant, to the concentration of CO2 in
the room, to the light wavelengths and duration of the growing “day” and
subsequent rest period. Thanks to intelligent automation and advanced
robotics, every plant can be grown in ideal, cleanroom conditions,
untouched by human hand from planting to harvest. By comparison,
conventional production cycles typically average 13 stages of human
contact.
Lighting the future of horticulture with Arize
Malcolm Yare, Horticulture Business Development Manager for Current by
GE commented, “We’ve spent years honing our technology in other
industrial lighting sectors, and years more partnering with agricultural
experts and researching the needs of horticultural applications. Our
Arize LED solutions now lead the industry for efficiency and we continue
to research new ways to improve performance through innovation. We look
forward to working with Jones Food Company and our wider ecosystem of
partners to find new ways to scale high-quality, global food production
whilst reducing the energy and environmental costs of vertical farming.”
The Arize range of lighting solutions are low cost to install and
maintain, with a market-leading 36K-hour lifetime (L90) and a five-year
warranty to provide peace of mind and long-term reliability. An IP66, UL
Wet rating also makes them ideal for high-care and cleanroom facilities
as the luminaires can be easily washed and sanitised in-place.
Saving the environment whilst boosting the balance sheet
The JFC facility is designed to minimise the environmental impact of
vertical farming, which will also offer a direct financial benefit to
the company. For example, it will use up to 90 percent less water and 50
percent less fertiliser than conventional growing methods, saving on
input costs. In addition, Current by GE’s Arize LED solutions are highly
efficient, generating less heat than competitive products, reducing
energy consumption and carbon footprint by 33 percent compared with
vertical farming averages.
Notes to editors:
Jones Food Company production statistical visualisation:
-
The growing surface area is 5120m2 – close to 26 singles
tennis courts
-
12.3Km of Arize lighting is the equivalent of laying nearly 38 Eiffel
Towers end to end
-
The growing racks reach a height of 11m, just over 3 storeys
-
420 tonnes of leafy greens are expected to be produced each year –
roughly the same weight as 70 adult elephants
For more information regarding Current by GE’s Arize LED solutions for
horticulture, visit www.currentbyge.com
or visit us at our booth at GreenTech Amsterdam between 12th
and 14th June 2018 (Hall 8, booth 105).
About Current, powered by GE
Current is the digital engine
for intelligent environments. A first-of-its-kind startup within the
walls of GE (NYSE: GE), Current blends advanced LED technology with
networked sensors and software to make commercial buildings, retail
stores and industrial facilities more energy efficient & digitally
productive. Backed by the power of Predix*, GE’s platform for
the Industrial Internet, and a broad ecosystem of technology partners,
Current is helping businesses and cities unlock hidden value and realize
the potential of their environments. www.currentbyge.com
About Jones Food Company
The nucleus of the Jones Food
Company consists of three main protagonists: James Lloyd-Jones (CEO), Dr
Paul Challinor (CTO) and Gary Thorneycroft (CFO). Together, they have
consolidated initial ideas on improving the management of high value
crops in intensive growing conditions by constructing a world class
plant production unit based in the UK.
The use of wide-ranging experience gained in the energy, horticultural
research and finance industries has been paramount in the solving of
complex production issues, ahead of the first crop harvest. The
combination of intensive hydroponics, energy-efficient LED lighting and
sophisticated environmental control systems, coupled with the
maintenance of a high-care production and harvesting process flow, takes
growing to a new level in the UK fresh produce industry and is
world-leading in its wider outlook.
*Trademark and/or Service Mark of General Electric
Company
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180607005249/en/
Contacts:
Current, powered by GE
Karen O’Neil, +1 857-265-9113
karen.oneil@ge.com
or
Racepoint
Global
Jenna Keighley, +44 208 811 2151
Jenna.keighley@racepointglobal.com
Source: Current, powered by GE
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