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UK team runs trials for underground farm in disused mine
The project is based at Boulby mine near Saltburn, where researchers say using the mine’s stable conditions could cut the high energy costs of conventional vertical farming.
Researchers in North Yorkshire are running trials for a deep underground farm at Boulby mine near Saltburn, growing leafy crops like pak choi and lettuce in a science facility located more than 1,000 metres underground, according to the Guardian Business.
The team behind the project is exploring whether disused mines can be used for crop production, citing a stable environment and existing infrastructure as potential ways to reduce the energy costs tied to conventional vertical farming.
Project leader Jacob Nickles, a University of Sheffield research fellow, said the work is meant to help address food supply pressure, arguing that food production would need to double by 2050 to support the world’s population.
The Guardian Business also notes that the mine is a working operation, and that Boulby is the world’s only commercial producer of polyhalite, a mineral used as an agricultural fertiliser.