Square Roots grows plants “in the dark” to significantly reduce the energy needs of indoor vertical farming.
New approach, supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, aims to fundamentally change the economics for controlled environment agriculture.
New York, NY — January 30, 2024. Square Roots, a leading startup in controlled environment agriculture, announced today a groundbreaking program that could change the way plants are grown indoors — ultimately bringing the advantages of indoor vertical farming to a much broader range of crops and global markets. The program aims to prove that light can be removed from a commercial indoor vertical farming system, and is supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
All the benefits of indoor farming remain (such as year-round ability to grow food, zero use of pesticides, and efficient use of water and land compared to outdoor field farming) but the system can now operate with radically reduced energy needs. This translates directly to significantly lower production costs and associated CO2e.
Removing light from an indoor farming system — reducing both costs and CO2e — could unlock enormous benefit for the future of food security around the world.
This breakthrough would make indoor farming considerably more viable and sustainable for low and middle income countries — where future food supply from traditional outdoor agriculture faces outsized risk due to the climate crisis. The results could change the underlying economics for indoor farming globally — where energy needs today, primarily driven by the requirement for LED grow lights, can typically contribute 20%-40% of total costs.
“Indoor farms’ ability to grow fresh, nutritious food, all year round, in any location, irrespective of outdoor climate, has obvious appeal,” said Tobias Peggs, Square Roots’ CEO. “But to date the solution has been energy intensive. By removing light from an indoor farming system — reducing both costs and CO2e — this program could unlock an enormous benefit for the future of food security around the world.”
To enable this new approach, Square Roots is working with gene-edited (CRISPR) plants that grow heterotrophically. More specifically, they can add biomass by uptaking carbon from acetate (a vinegar-like substance added to irrigation water) rather than relying on photosynthesis under LED lights. Effectively, these plants can grow “in the dark” in an indoor vertical farm.
The underlying science was initially developed by Dr. Robert Jinkerson, a specialist in artificial photosynthesis at the University of California (UC), Riverside, in conjunction with Dr. Feng Jiao, a chemist at the University of Delaware. Their lab-scale trials in sustainable acetate production and heterotrophic plant growth, also funded by the Gates Foundation, will now be tested at production-scale using the Square Roots indoor vertical farming platform.
“Square Roots has got the right technology platform and the operational know-how to grow plants in lab-like conditions but at commercial-scale,” said Jinkerson. “They are an ideal partner for all the stakeholders in this program as we work together on novel approaches to mitigate future food security issues caused by climate change, especially in low and middle income countries.”
Initial growing trials are focused on lettuces and so-called SPACE Tomatoes — which have been additionally edited to grow more fruit and less vine. In future phases, the company hopes to tackle higher-calorie crops such as sweet potatoes and cassava — staple crops in many low and middle income countries.
“Our expertise in indoor farming operations and plant science, along with our flexible, modular infrastructure and smart software, makes Square Roots the ideal growing partner for accelerating agricultural research,” says Peggs. “It’s also really motivating to be applying our platform to tackle important and potentially transformative work such as this.”
About Square Roots:
Square Roots is the leading indoor farming platform, built to accelerate agricultural research for a world facing climate crisis. Food suppliers work with Square Roots to lock-in guaranteed supply, develop differentiated produce, and deliver on sustainability commitments. Research organizations use the Square Roots platform to explore novel means and uses of plant production, for food and beyond. Square Roots was founded by serial technology and impact entrepreneurs Kimbal Musk and Tobias Peggs. For more information, visit www.squarerootsgrow.com.
