Boulby Underground Laboratory Repurposes Deep Science Infrastructure for Food Production Research

First plants being transplanted 1.1km underground in the Outside Experimentation Area of the Boulby Underground Laboratory. Credit: STFC

(IN BRIEF) Researchers have begun a 12-month underground farming study at the Boulby Underground Laboratory, growing crops 1.1 kilometres below ground in what is described as the world’s deepest farming study. The project is led by The University of Sheffield’s Institute for Sustainable Food in partnership with Farm Urban, with support from the Science and Technology Facilities Council and funding through a UKRI BBSRC-STFC Facility Access Fund award. The study will collect real-world data on crop yield, energy use and running costs to assess whether underground farming can be commercially viable. If successful, the approach could help repurpose disused mines across the UK, support skilled job creation, improve access to fresh produce and strengthen food resilience as above-ground growing conditions become less predictable.

(PRESS RELEASE) SWINDON, 20-Jul-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — Researchers have begun growing crops 1.1 kilometres below ground at the Boulby Underground Laboratory, operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

The 12-month study will provide the first real-world evidence on whether underground farming can be operated at commercial scale, using a facility originally built primarily for particle physics rather than agriculture.

The project is supported by a UK Research and Innovation Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and STFC Facility Access Fund award for bioscience partnerships.

The funding scheme is designed to open STFC’s national facilities to research projects beyond their original scientific purpose.

Boulby Underground Laboratory is best known as the UK’s deep underground science facility, where researchers work shielded from cosmic radiation to search for dark matter and study neutrinos.

The laboratory also supports broader pure and applied research that makes use of its ultra-low background radiation environment, subterranean geology and established scientific infrastructure.

Those same conditions are now being tested for a very different application: food production.

Researchers will investigate whether the stable underground environment could help reduce some of the energy costs associated with vertical farming above ground, where lighting, heating and climate control can account for a large share of operating expenses.

Professor Sean Paling, Director of STFC Boulby Underground Laboratory, said the site is a unique scientific environment capable of supporting research that cannot easily be carried out elsewhere.

“Boulby Underground Laboratory is a special place for science, hosting research that can only be done in the unique deep subterranean environment,” said Paling.

He noted that the laboratory’s work includes low-background physics, dark matter searches and neutrino studies, as well as a growing portfolio of applied research.

Hosting the vertical farming study with Farm Urban, he said, is a natural extension of that science programme.

“If this can work here, it opens real possibilities for what disused mines across the UK could become for the public,” added Paling.

The study is being led by The University of Sheffield’s Institute for Sustainable Food, in partnership with food producer Farm Urban, with support from Boulby laboratory staff.

Crops planted underground will be monitored over 12 months to collect practical data on yield, energy use and running costs.

The results will help build an evidence base for assessing whether underground farming can be viable beyond the Boulby site.

Jacob Nickles, co-lead of the Institute for Sustainable Food’s Controlled Environment Agriculture group at The University of Sheffield, said underground farming is not a new idea, but there is limited real-world evidence on how it could work in practice.

He said the project aims to build a robust model using validated, practical data to better understand the opportunities offered by underground sites.

Nickles said the team expects challenges, including ambient salt and heat linked to mining environments, but the goal is to determine whether crops can be grown successfully in these and similar conditions.

If the approach proves successful, thousands of disused mine sites across the UK could potentially be repurposed for food production.

Many of these sites are located in economically deprived areas. Repurposing them could help create skilled jobs, improve access to fresh produce and support local communities while giving new purpose to heritage mining sites.

Underground farming could also offer wider resilience benefits. Subterranean sites are protected from extreme weather and seasonal variation, which may become increasingly important as above-ground growing conditions become less predictable.

Moving cultivation underground could also reduce competition for agricultural land, lower fertiliser run-off and support pollinator habitats by reducing pressure on intensive field-based farming.

The UK has thousands of disused mine sites, many in communities affected by the decline of the mining industry. If the Boulby study demonstrates that underground farming can work at commercial scale, similar sites could potentially be adapted to support food production, employment and local access to fresh produce.

Science Minister Lord Vallance said the Government supports science because of its ability to address major national challenges.

He said producing fresh food while using less energy and land, and reducing reliance on changeable British weather, could strengthen food security and help protect the environment.

Lord Vallance added that the project could also see more disused mines become hubs for skilled employment, creating new opportunities for communities across the UK.

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SOURCE: UKRI