The UK’s Crop Diversity High-Performance Compute (HPC) Cluster, a state-of-the-art supercomputer, is now operational at the newly opened Crop Innovation Centre (CIC) at The James Hutton Institute in Invergowrie, Scotland. This powerful computing facility is set to revolutionise crop research and development, addressing critical challenges in agriculture and food security
Capable of storing over 6,000 terabytes of data (equivalent to 1.5 million HD movies), , the HPC cluster is crucial for managing the numerous gigabytes of fresh data that the researchers at the CIC are expected to produce every day.
The HPC cluster has a combined core count of 497,588, with only about 10,000 of those cores from Central Processing Units (CPUs). Around 95% comes from Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), favouring more cores at lower speeds to leverage energy efficient, parallel computing.
Dr. Iain Milne, head of research computing at The Hutton, emphasised the supercomputer’s ability to dramatically reduce processing times. He said:
“As a shared resource between seven UK institutes, including Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), the Royal Botanical Gardens of both Edinburgh and Kew and the Natural History Museum, the HPC facilitates national and international research collaborations.
“Its ability to deliver high-performance computing power will enable a wide range of projects, from crop diversity to natural history digitisation.
“Tasks that would have taken years to process on a single laptop can now be completed in a matter of hours or days, and with a focus on maximising performance per watt, the facility aligns with the centre’s commitment to sustainability.”
Encouraging the use of eco-friendly energy, a third of the power for the new centre is generated from Bullionfield Solar Meadow, located near Invergowrie. The High-Performance Computing (HPC) facility is anticipated to consume approximately 100 kilowatts of power and is equipped with a cooling system that utilises Scotland’s naturally cool outdoor temperature, thereby helping reduce cooling costs.
The IBH will promote scientific discovery and innovation by exploring cutting-edge techniques like gene editing, precise phenotyping, and the management of crops through sensor and drone data.
The Advanced Plant Growth Centre (APGC) focuses on enhancing the production of global food, non-food, and pharmaceutical crops. It encompasses five key facilities: a molecular phenotyping centre (for the examination of crop characteristics at a molecular level, including DNA, proteins, and flavour and scent compounds); a high-throughput phenotyping platform (for the collection and analysis of extensive data sets); a vertical growth tower; a storage facility for crops after harvest; and advanced controlled environments capable of simulating present and future global crop growth conditions.
In the next decade, the Centre for Industrial Catalysis (CIC) is expected to play a significant role in over 900 industry collaborations, creating an additional 2,600 jobs in the UK, with 1,760 of these positions in Scotland and 470 in Tayside. It is projected to add over £900 million to the UK’s gross value added (GVA), with more than half of this contribution coming from Scotland.
