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Overview
As global demand grows, driven by soaring populations and increased purchasing power in the developing world, it is becoming less and less sustainable to rely solely on traditional agriculture for food production. This webinar makes the case for urban or “vertical” farming as a sustainable future source of crops, highlighting the key technical and business challenges and potential solutions.
As opposed to rural farms, urban growing takes place in a completely controlled environment – eliminating the need for pesticides and other chemicals which are becoming increasingly highly regulated.
Liberty Produce is a UK-based farming technology company driving innovations to enable urban farming to compete with traditional agriculture on both cost and quality. Chief Knowledge Officer Dr Dylan Banks will expand on their ambitious target to half capital expenditure requirements and reduce OPEX, thus making vertical farming a viable source of nutrition. He will also touch on considerations including crop selection, sharing the results achieved so far and plans for further development.
Dr Ed Hammond of ECH Engineering will then give a deeper explanation of the engineering barriers to be overcome to make vertical farming a reality, such as achieving the optimal temperature and light conditions to grow quality produce. Both speakers will also take part in a live audience Q&A.
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Day 1
12:00 - Webinar Programme
Start time:
12:00 London
07:00 New York
13:00 Berlin
16:30 New Delhi
20:00 Tokyo
12:00 GMT Webinar begins
12:40 GMT Q&A
13:00 GMT Webinar ends
Dylan Banks: Chief Executive Officer, Liberty Produce
Liberty Produce CEO, Dylan is an academic turned entrepreneur, founder of Iceni Labs and co-founder of Liberty Produce. Initially trained as a physicist and bio-engineer, he has since held positions in business and technology development and commercialisation at Cambridge University and Imperial College London. He works closely with the NHS, the MoD and other agencies and companies, developing novel technologies and products.
Ed Hammond: Principal, ECH Engineering
ECH Engineering Ltd is a Bristol based SME specialising in developing appropriate technologies for the refrigeration and horticultural sectors. In-house capabilities include mechanical engineering, electronics, software, refrigeration, electrical installations, thermal management, lighting and computational fluid dynamics. Recent large projects include the HVAC system for the CHAPS vertical farm at STC and a turnkey refrigeration research centre in Lowestoft (c/w environmental chambers, data acquisition and control systems all designed and built as bespoke systems by ECH).
The unique selling point of ECH is its ability to take academic research and apply it with scientific rigor to practical applications within industry.
Managing director Dr Edward C Hammond MEng (Hons) CEng MIMechE FInstR PhD gained his Masters of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bath and a PhD in Retail Display Refrigeration, at the University of Bristol. He is a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and fellow of the Institute of Refrigeration. Dr Hammond’s academic prowess is backed by years of commercial experience in the refrigeration industry and practical mechanical engineering skills. He is currently working in HVAC design for controlled environments and vertical farms, bespoke refrigeration, electrical installations and horticultural lighting.
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