"If we are serious about meeting our climate targets, the UK will need to plant vast amounts of bioenergy sources and do so quickly. Having enough stock to ramp up planting to 720,000 hectares by 2050 represents a significant and undervalued bottleneck in the supply chain. Our innovation allows us to grow willow faster, with a higher yield on a smaller land footprint than traditional fields," says Dr Zoe Harris, Principal Investigator of the project and Dr at Surrey University.
"We are confident that our technology could change the willow-cutting market. We'll be able to demonstrate more cutting on less land and do so flexibly in response to changes in market demand, minimizing waste and maximizing productivity."
Taeda Tech Project is an exciting, £4m innovation developing an aeroponic technology that can rapidly grow cuttings for energy crops to help the UK transition to cleaner energy technologies. Our innovation grows short rotation coppice (SRC) cuttings, using only water and nutrients, at a higher yield on a smaller land footprint than traditional field growing. Furthermore, the innovations and processes developed will open up new crop possibilities for the agricultural and forestry sectors looking to support reforestation and rewilding and enhance breeding programs.
Join the open evening
For the past few years, UKUAT has been a partner on the Taeda Tech Project, led by the University of Surrey. As part of this project, the UKUAT will be hosting an open evening on the 5th of June 17:30-20:00 GMT+1, at the Manor Park Campus of the University, in Guildford.
There you will get the chance to visit our purpose-built aeroponic greenhouse and polytunnel facilities, on a guided tour led by the Taeda Tech team. There will also be a short introduction to the work being done on the project, by our project lead Dr Zoe M Harris, and there will be plenty of time for networking over drinks and light snacks.
Click here to access the link.
All about the project
The project is being funded by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (a UK government department) through their Biomass Feedstocks Innovation Programme, which is a £36 million program and part of their larger £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, The aim of which is to accelerate the commercialization of innovative clean energy technologies and processes through the 2020s and 2030s.
The Taeda Tech project is a collaborative demonstration project, led by the Centre for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Surrey. The project is bringing together a team of leading academic and industrial partners including Rothamsted Research, Aberystwyth University, Forest Research, NIAB, UK Urban AgriTech, LettUs Grow, NMC2, and CapitalAgri.
Taeda Tech Project
www.taedatechnologies.com
UK Urban AgriTech
[email protected]
www.ukuat.org