Innovate UK’s Launchpad for Eastern England Lincolnshire Success Story: GASTRO

Greenhouse food production is energy intensive, and introducing new technologies into commercial growing environments can carry significant risk. The GASTRO project is helping address that challenge by testing how geothermal energy and advanced glass technology can work together in a real food-production setting.

Based at the University of Lincoln’s Riseholme campus, GASTRO stands for Geothermal and Advanced Spectral Technology for Regional Optimisation. The project brings together NFU Energy, Pilkington NSG and the University of Lincoln.

The project is being delivered in the UK’s first geothermal glasshouse, a high-tech growing environment with automated climate control. Its aim is to understand how new energy systems can be optimised for greenhouse food production.

Testing a new energy system

The project combines two technologies. The first is a geothermal heating system. Eighteen boreholes, each 200 metres deep, extract heat from the ground to support the glasshouse facilities.

The second is an infrared-reflective coating developed by Pilkington NSG. The coating is designed to reduce the need for labour and cost-intensive cooling, while allowing vents to remain closed for longer and enabling more efficient use of CO2 within the glasshouse.

Because this type of energy system had not previously been used in this way for food production, the project has focused on learning, measurement and optimisation.

Building evidence for future investment

One of the most important benefits of the Innovate UK’s Launchpad funding has been the ability to test the technology in practice and build a body of evidence around how it performs.

The team is now generating data on the performance of heat pumps in this setting, helping move the conversation from assumption to real-world measurement.

That evidence matters because new technologies in food production can carry significant perceived risk. Publicly funded trials can help reduce that risk by giving future investors, farmers and growers greater confidence in the technology.

Dr Amir Badiee, Senior Lecturer at the University of Lincoln, explains:

“The more people know about projects like this and how successful they are means that in the future when more rounds are available, then both investors are more likely to invest, and people are more likely to put forward projects.”

Creating knowledge for growers and investors

The project is also creating practical knowledge that can support future commercialisation. By testing the system in a real growing environment, the team is developing evidence that can help farmers, growers and potential investors understand how the technology performs and where it could be applied.

The campaign overview positions this work as part of a wider ambition to strengthen Lincolnshire’s agri-tech cluster and reinforce UK Food Valley’s role in automation, agri-tech and interdisciplinary research.

For GASTRO, the Launchpad has provided the opportunity to test, measure and demonstrate a new approach to greenhouse food production, helping reduce risk and create the evidence needed for future adoption and investment.