Farm workhorse goes all electric thanks to

Electrogenic drop-in kit

Electrogenic, the Kidlington-based company which can convert classic cars to 100 per cent electric, has launched a ‘drop in’ kit to convert working Land Rover Defenders to fully-electric power. The conversion kit, aimed at the agricultural sector and landowners, has been in development and tested extensively over the past 18 months on Worthy Farm, host to the Glastonbury Festival.

The kit is designed to be installed by a qualified mechanic and be maintenance free. An electric motor is bolted to the Defender’s existing clutch bell housing so the vehicle keeps all its gears. It packs 120 brake horse power and 235 Newton metres of torque –comparable power and torque to the original diesel engine. 52 kilowatt hour of batteries are mounted under the bonnet giving more than 100 miles of range on-road and considerably more when driving off-road or around a farm, says Electrogenic.

Steve Drummond, Electrogenic co-founder, said: “This new electric conversion kit is a really exciting development for us. We do highspecification conversions for roadwarriors, but this kit is all about giving landowners an economic, sustainable option. It uses Electrogenic’s proprietary technology and gives Land Rover Defenders – long a trusty workhorse for farms – an affordable new lease of life and reducing running costs.

Eider Vertical Farms gains £50 million investment for five new facilities

Eider Vertical Farms has secured £50 million to fund new sites that will grow produce all year round.

The investment in the Redditch firm from Slate Asset Management, brokered by Burges Salmon, will be used to fund the construction of Eider Vertical Farms’ first five facilities by 2024.

Slate’s investment will allow the company to develop its sustainably grown produce year round, significantly reducing wastewater, nutrient usage and biohazard risk.

Founded in 2016, Eider Vertical Farms develops farms growing produce to be sold to the UK mass market. Its products are grown in standard warehouses that are adapted to house vertical farms.

Vertical farming is a high-efficiency renewable food production technique which produces a consistent yield and is less vulnerable to increasing food production costs.

Airbus increases UK innovation footprint to develop new hydrogen technologies

Airbus is launching a Zero Emission Development Centre (ZEDC) for hydrogen technologies at Filton in Bristol.

A priority for the UK ZEDC will be the development of a cost-competitive cryogenic fuel system required for the successful entry into service of Airbus’ ZEROe passenger aircraft by 2035, and to accelerate UK skills and know-how on hydrogen-propulsion technologies.

The UK Government has guaranteed £685 million in funding to the Aerospace Technology Institute over the next three years to support the development of zero-carbon and ultra-low-emission aircraft technologies.

Sabine Klauke, Airbus Chief Technical Officer, said: “Establishing the ZEDC in the UK expands Airbus’ in-house industrial capabilities to design, test and manufacture cryogenic hydrogen storage tanks and related systems for the ZEROe project across Airbus’ four home countries.”

Technology development at the new UK ZEDC has already started and will cover the full product and industrial capabilities from components up to whole system and cryogenic testing. End-to-end fuel systems development, a speciality of Airbus in the UK, is one of the most complex technologies crucial to the performance of a future hydrogen aircraft.

When combined with soil-free growing techniques and high growing densities from their layout, vertical farming can achieve yields hundreds of times above that of conventional agriculture, 365 days a year and without requiring pesticides.

This latest news of investment in vertical farming follows an announcement in February by Coventry firm V-Farm that it had gained £10,000 from the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) Growth Hub for its rooftop vertical farming concept.

The business secured a £10,000 Proof of Concept grant which forms part of the Coventry and Warwickshire Business Support Programme delivered by Coventry University Enterprises Limited.