Minimization of water usage and the environmental footprint of food production
In an effort to revolutionize water management and food production, Unity4Water has partnered with Swegreen, a leader in controlled-environment vertical farming, modern agriculture and sustainable engineering.
– Mälardalen University and Swegreen are establishing a research facility at the university’s campus with vertical farming units from Swegreen. These units are multifunctional and unlock a huge potential to research and explore various aspects of food production in such systems. By utilizing our technology, we enable the minimization of water usage and the environmental footprint of food production and in specific leafy greens, salads, herbs and spices, says Sepehr Mousavi, Chief Innovation Officer and Co-Founder of Swegreen.
Collaboration with academic partners is in Swegreen’s DNA, and Unity4Water is an strategic partnership and project for them. They work closely with other partners to develop and implement innovative solutions for water recycling, energy efficiency and optimal crop growth within the principles of food-water-energy nexus.
– Withing the project’s framework, we shall engage and collaborate with various project partners which are specialized in nutrient management, carbon capture, digital monitoring and lighting technology to harness these innovations to showcase a flagship Swedish innovation that is globally unique as a concept, says Sepehr Mousavi.
When it comes to the potential of integrating digital solutions and data-driven analysis, Swegreen highlights their commitment to remote farming principles. Their units are distributed and in operation across Sweden and at customer premises such as grocery stores, supermarkets and restaurants. The company offers growing platforms of different sizes and production capacity that monitored digitally round the clock and are steered from distance, to produce hyperlocal greens at customer premises in a logistic-free manner and where the with maximum proximity to the end consumer. All this is made possible through maximum connectivity and a digital monitoring system that can provide researchers with high-quality data.
Looking ahead, Swegreen envisions the Unity4Water project as an enabler for furthering their long-term goals and vision for sustainability and innovation in agriculture and water management.
– The project fosters a broader vision for better understanding of the systematic approach and opens up significant potential for solution integration and research infrastructure development, Sepehr Mousavi express and concludes:
– We are excited to strengthen our ties with MDU as our closest academic partner, as well as with other research institutes and for B2B research and development.
