Engineering the Fields: Dyson's Leap from Gadgets to Agriculture

Daniel Mitchell

08 Feb, 2024

Photo Credit: Dyson Farming

How a Tech Giant is Redefining Farming with Innovation and Sustainability

Agriculture

- fuel cells

- robotics

This article was discussed in our Next Byte podcast.

The full article will continue below.

Dyson, a brand synonymous with innovation in vacuum cleaners, hairdryers, and robotics, has embarked on an ambitious journey into agriculture, transforming it with the same engineering excellence that characterizes their consumer products. Over a decade ago, Dyson began acquiring farms across the UK, now totaling 36,000 acres in Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, and Somerset. This venture is far from a side project; it's an integration of high technology and sustainable practices aimed at redefining farming.

At the heart of Dyson's farming initiative is a commitment to agricultural improvement and environmental stewardship. The company has made significant strides in enhancing farm operations, including optimizing water management and soil health through drainage and maintenance efforts. A notable aspect of their approach is the dedication to biodiversity, with around 4,000 acres set aside for natural habitats, underlining a holistic vision that marries conventional farming with sustainability.

Dyson's foray into agriculture is driven by a vision to regenerate the soil, improve land management, and advance sustainable farming. The initiative employs a regenerative farming model, incorporating livestock to improve soil quality and thereby produce higher-quality food. This model is not just about farming efficiency but also about embracing technology and innovation to achieve sustainability and self-sufficiency.

A standout feature of Dyson's approach is the use of an anaerobic digester, which converts crops into gas to generate electricity, supporting around 10,000 homes. This circular farming model emphasizes the reuse of waste products, with digestate from the process used as a natural fertilizer, showcasing a sustainable loop that benefits both the farm and the surrounding environment. Furthermore, they ensure that no energy is wasted either, with excess heat from the process being used to keep the greenhouse warm for strawberry cultivation.

Dyson has also innovated in crop cultivation, using technology like ultraviolet light and robotics to grow strawberries in a new 15-acre glasshouse in Carrington, Lincolnshire. This glasshouse not only advances sustainable farming practices but also extends the British strawberry growing season, reducing the need for imports and the associated food miles.

The impacts of Dyson's farming initiative are manifold. By enhancing biodiversity, improving soil health, and employing circular farming practices, Dyson is not only producing better-tasting food but also contributing to environmental conservation. Their use of technology and sustainable practices in farming points towards a future where agriculture is not only about food production but also about ecological balance and resource efficiency.

Dyson's journey into agriculture reflects a broader ambition to apply engineering and technological expertise to one of the oldest human endeavors, farming. By doing so, Dyson is reimagining what is possible in agriculture, making it a model for sustainable and technologically advanced farming practices worldwide.

For a closer look at Dyson's innovative farming practices and their implications for sustainable agriculture, you can explore more through Dyson Farming's official site.

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A Robust Fuel Cell that Runs on Methane at Practical Temperatures

Fuel cells have not been particularly known for their practicality and affordability, but that may have just changed. There’s a new cell that runs on cheap fuel at temperatures comparable to automobile engines and which slashes materials costs.

Ben Brumfield

fromGeorgia Institute of Technology

15 Oct, 2018

fuel cells

Fuel cells have not been particularly known for their practicality and affordability, but that may have just changed. There’s a new cell that runs on cheap fuel at temperatures comparable to automobile engines and which slashes materials costs.

Though the cell is in the lab, it has high potential to someday electrically power homes and perhaps cars, say the researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology who led its development. In a new study in the journal Nature Energy the researchers detailed how they reimagined the entire fuel cell with the help of a newly invented fuel catalyst.

The catalyst has dispensed with high-priced hydrogen fuel by making its own out of cheap, readily available methane. And improvements throughout the cell cooled the seething operating temperatures that are customary in methane fuel cells dramatically, a striking engineering accomplishment.

Methane fuel cells usually require temperatures of 750 to 1,000 degrees Celsius to run. This new one needs only about 500, which is even a notch cooler than automobile combustion engines, which run at around 600 degrees Celsius.

That lower temperature could trigger cascading cost savings in the ancillary technology needed to operate a fuel cell, potentially pushing the new cell to commercial viability. The researchers feel confident that engineers can design electric power units around this fuel cell with reasonable effort, something that has eluded previous methane fuel cells.

‘Sensation in our world’

“Our cell could make for a straightforward, robust overall system that uses cheap stainless steel to make interconnectors,” said Meilin Liu, who led the study and is a Regents Professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Materials Science and Engineering. Interconnectors are parts that help bring together many fuel cells into a stack, or functional unit.

“Above 750 degrees Celsius, no metal

Image: Illinois professors Nancy Sottos and Andrew Gerwith developed a method to comprehensively measure the mechanical stress and strain in lithium-ion batteries. It revealed a point of stress in charging that, if addressed through new methods or materials, could lead to faster-charging batteries. Photo by L. Brian Stauffer

Method opens a window on how stress and strain affect battery performance

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Batteries that charge faster and have greater capacity could boost portable electronic devices and electric cars.

19 Sep, 2017

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Batteries that charge faster and have greater capacity could boost portable electronic devices and electric cars. A new method to simultaneously test stress and strain in battery electrodes gives researchers a window into the mechanical, electrical and chemical forces within lithium-ion batteries. The method revealed an unexpected point of stress in the charging cycle, which could guide development of better batteries.

University of Illinois chemistry professor Andrew Gewirth, materials science and engineering professor Nancy Sottos and graduate students Elizabeth Jones and Hadi Tavassol published their work in the journal Nature Materials.

“We are finding limitations that are preventing the material from operating properly,” Gewirth said. “We are trying to understand what those limitations are and then develop materials and ways of processing materials that overcome them.”

A lithium-ion battery works by transferring lithium ions between two electrodes: the cathode and anode. When the battery is charged, lithium goes into the anode, which causes the material to expand. When the battery is discharged, the lithium leaves the anode, causing it to contract. However, because the material is constrained within the battery cell, it cannot truly expand and contract as it would when unconstrained, which causes mechanical stress within the material, Sottos said. Most methods of studying battery operation focus on electrochemistry, overlooking this mechanical response, she said.

“The relationship between the electrochemistry and the development of stress and strain is not well understood,” said Sottos. “The stress and strain can actually change the way a battery functions, and usually in a negative way – like the capacity will fade, or it will cause small cracks that cause reactions you don’t expect.”

The researchers combined two techniques to get a more holistic picture of the mechanical for