Closed urban modular energy- and resource-efficient agricultural systems

CUBES Circle aims to realize and test the sustainable, energy- and resource-efficient production of healthy food through the smart networking of aquaculture, insect and plant production in a variable, resilient and adaptable closed-loop system. Application contexts in (peri)urban environments in industrialized and emerging countries with existing technical infrastructure are considered first. The implementation of this complex space-optimized production system across three trophic levels, whose material and energy flows are embedded in the environment and which pursues a zero-waste philosophy, is still unique worldwide with the consistency pursued in the project. The expected research results of CUBES Circle in the second project phase consist of the further development and optimization of the connected production systems. This relates to the improvement of energy and material cycles, the optimal combination of organisms - adapted to the respective environmental conditions - as well as the integration of alternative organisms and, if necessary, trophic levels, the efficient scaling of trophic levels and the evaluation of suitable application contexts and possible locations. The creation of a process twin enables the digital simulation of the CUBES Circle processes and can partially replace actual experiments. A visual twin for the digital illustration of the actual production enables communication and exchange with the public, further training and familiarization of future operators as well as critical feedback from both. With the Social License to Operate approach, a transdisciplinary concept for community engagement is being developed and tested at the CUBES location in Berlin.
By the end of the second phase, the necessary technical, agronomic and social concepts required to establish the CUBES Circle System at selected locations will have been generated. In addition to reliable production figures, this also includes different combinations of crops/species of the individual ProductionCUBES, taking into account possible scaling effects. The regulation and control units will be optimized and coordinated with each other and enable operation for different scenarios. Ecological and economic key figures will be available for the overall system. Cooperation with industrial partners for the implementation of key innovations from a production system or the entire Circle will be expanded.