Current Project
Will be updated soon
Past Projects
Controlled environment agriculture with solar illumination using the light guide. PI: Md Shamim Ahamed. Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS), University of California
Project Summary: This project aims to create capabilities for controlled environment agriculture (CEA), such as greenhouses, indoor vertical farms (IVF), and growth chambers to make them sustainable and climate-smart. The immediate goals are (a) building a vertical farm with sunlight energy harvesting technologies to reduce carbon footprint and (b) developing and implementing drones with long flying times to help in IVF automation.
Techno-economic Analysis of Ground Source Heat Pump System for Nursery Greenhouse in California. PIs: Md Shamim Ahamed, Kevin Novan (UC Davis), Plant California Alliance.
Project Summary: The nursery, floriculture, and propagation production industry in the USA accounted for 79% ($13.3 Billion) of 2017 ornamental specialty crop production. The greenhouse and nursery industries account for about 2.5 percent of all United States farms. In California, nursery and floral markets account for 7.5 percent of the state's farm sales. A significant percentage of these are grown in controlled environment facilities like greenhouses. In general, the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems are responsible for about 15-30% of total operating costs for greenhouse production. The improvement of energy performance with the integration of renewable is critical to reducing the greenhouse nursery industry's operating costs and environmental footprint. Based on the US Geological Survey in 2008, California has nearly 15,000 megawatts of geothermal potential, almost one-fifth of the total capacity of all power plants today. This project proposes studying the techno-economic feasibility of a ground source heat pump (GSHP) for combining heating, cooling, and dehumidification potential for nursery greenhouses in three different locations (San Deigo, Sacramento, and Sonoma County) in California.
Solar Energy-based Trigeneration System for a Net-zero Energy Greenhouse. PI: Md Shamim Ahamed. New Research Initiatives and Collaborative Interdisciplinary Research sponsored by UC Davis.
Project Summary: Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) could be one of the solutions for future food demand for the increased world population, but energy costs are the primary barrier to the sustainability of this industry. Adopting the net-zero energy (NZE) concept (total consumed energy by a site is equivalent to generated renewable energy by that site) for agricultural buildings would significantly minimize the global warming potential of energy-intensive controlled environment agricultural production facilities like greenhouses. In this project, a novel combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) system consisting of emerging adsorption cooling and photovoltaic thermal (PVT) system is proposed to achieve net-zero energy greenhouses (NZEGs) targets. A complete thermal model for the whole CCHP system will be developed for analyzing the potential of the proposed approach for NZEGs based on the combination of sub-model for major individual components. The project outcomes are expected to lead to a new dimension for the potential of NZE concepts for agricultural application. Also, the novel model-based framework would be an essential tool for students and researchers to study the possibility of CCHP to minimize the greenhouse gas (GHG) contributions to the world food supply chain.
Potential of Health Risks of Lights on Workers in Controlled Environmental Agricultural Systems. PI: Md Shamim Ahamed. Western Center for Agricultural Health & Safety, University of California, Davis
Project Summary: Light is the critical requirement for the optimal growth of plants in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) systems, including greenhouses and vertical farming systems. However, the workers could be susceptible to working for an extended time under the light. About 80% of ultraviolet radiation (UV-A) could be pass-through glazing to the indoor growing spaces. UV-A and UV-B radiation are also induced in the artificial lighting of vertical farming systems to benefit plant growth and increase disease resistance. However, the indoor farming industry mostly ignores the potential risks of workers working under UV spectrums (200-400 nm). The proposed project aims to study the possible high intensity of UV radiation exposure from natural (solar radiation) and supplemental light to CEA workers. The study will investigate the UV index level and the distribution of UV-A and UV-B from solar radiation and artificial lighting in growing spaces. The proposed research will provide insights into increasing worker safety in commercial CEA production systems.