Faculty of Engineering & Information Sciences, University of Hertfordshire (HU) – United Kingdom

AERU is a small research group based at the University of Hertfordshire in the UK. AERU conduct high quality research aimed at improving the environmental performance of all areas of agriculture, horticulture, conservation and land use. It is mainly funded by UK national and local Government but also has some funding from industry. The Unit has been involved in several European projects, including those funded by FP5 and the ESF.

Areas of interest include:

• Development, application and implementation of formal and informal environmental management systems (encompassing best practice guidance and regulatory compliance);
• Development of software tools for farmers and growers including mathematical models, decision support systems and databases;
• Dissemination of technological know-how to the agricultural, horticultural and related sectors in both the UK and overseas including the development and application of on and off-line regulatory audits and dedicated websites (i.e. www.adlib.ac.uk)
• The development and application of techniques for the assessment, control and management of environmental impact arising from agricultural processes including the use of agrochemicals (fertilisers and crop protection products) and the efficiency of inputs (energy and water).

Role in the project

Compilation of information regarding the greenhouse energy system requirements on the whole UK under support of other British partners. This partner will have a very important contribution to the project, since it will be in charge of designing and developing the energy auditing software tool integrating the input given by the other RTD performers. To accomplish this task, they will base on their previous work.