Project Overview

Department of Energy Controlled Environment Agriculture Accelerator

Project Overview

Led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and in collaboration with Resource Innovation Institute (RII), the work detailed herein is the outcome of a two-year accelerator for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to promote energy- and water-efficient controlled environment agriculture (CEA). CEA production typically includes greenhouses, but can also include vertical farms or plant factories. CEA can improve crop yields, water and chemical consumption, and nutritional security, though it often requires more energy than conventional agriculture. To advance resource-efficient market growth, the CEA Accelerator team worked with a wide variety of industry stakeholders to develop tools and resources, which were tested in five spotlight communities.

Key project outcomes include: 

1. A catalogue of existing and emerging technologies for CEA, including a brief description of the technology or approach; identified regulatory, technical, economic and social barriers; estimates of energy consumption and cost; and a description of any possible co-benefits (e.g., environmental or resilience advantages). 
2. An interactive site feasibility tool to assist stakeholders in selecting locations for CEA facilities, identifying relevant resources nearby, and estimating the energy intensity of the hypothetical facility under baseline and alternative management scenarios.
3. A series of best practice guides for energy and water efficiency across a range of subject matter, guided by discussions with industry stakeholders, that expand the curriculum for a national workforce development ecosystem highlighted by a credentialing program available for state adoption.
4. A summary of government resources compiled across different federal agencies to help CEA facilities identify loans, grants, technical assistance, and other support to encourage more energy- and water-efficient CEA

Acknowledgements

We would like to express gratitude for the many people who volunteered their time to provide valuable feedback and guidance for this project, including but not limited to our advisory group, the Stakeholder Engagement, Education, and Deployment (SEED) team. Some SEED team members were not able to serve the full project period, primarily due to job changes. SEED team participants are listed below, along with their most recent institutional affiliation while they served on the committee:

• Andrew Horowitz, EnSave
• Annie Wissemeier, 80 Acres
• Bob Gunn, Seinergy
• Brad Berg, ARCO/Murray
• Catherine Wilsbach, LIVIC Civil
• Charles Smith, Epcot Crenshaw
• Chieri Kubota , Ohio CEA Center
• Chris Chammoun, Georgia Department of Economic Development
• Crystal Bell, DOE
• Ian Kanski, Harrisburg University
• James Brady, OmniGro
• Jennifer Amann, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
• Jonathan Dick, SEF / Nature Fresh
• Joyce Jong, City of Riverside
• Kale Harbick, USDA Agricultural Research Service
• Katie McLaughlin, Office of the Governor, Office of Transformation & Opportunity
• Louie Krak, Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection
• Mark Hall, Equilibrium Capital / Revol Greens
• Matthew Meisel, Little Leaf Farms
• Nina Bhattacharyya, USDA Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production
• Pat Milner, USDA Agricultural Research Service
• Rick Drescher, Savills
• Sonny Ramaswamy, NW Commission on Colleges & Universities
• Thao Chau, California Energy Commission
• Thomas Lor, Southern California Edison
• Tom Stenzel, CEA Alliance