THE national centre for food science is almost halving its carbon emissions with the installations of pink LED lighting at its campus near York.
As part of its on-going investment in environmental sustainability, the National Agri-Food Innovation Campus (NAFIC), at Sand Hutton, is replacing more than 600 incandescent metal halide plant growth lights in five large blocks of glasshouse cubicles, with LED light units.
The high-production glasshouses are used by the site’s largest tenant, Fera Science, to facilitate its research work on plant pests and diseases from all over the world.
The new units consist mainly of red and blue LEDs, which are the key parts of the light spectrum plants use for photosynthesis.
Liz Cashon, Innovation Campus manager at NAFIC, said: “The new LED lamps last five times longer than the metal halide versions and require less maintenance. They also produce less radiant heat, which will cut the frequency of plant watering, particularly in the winter months. “Sustainability is important to us and to Fera Science.”
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