From Artificial Intelligence
to Living Intelligence.
What if the infrastructure powering Australia's AI revolution could also help grow Australia's food?
The intelligence revolution has a physical footprint.
Challenges commonly raised around large facilities — they vary by site, design and operator.
What if these challenges could become the starting point for a new circular economy?
We didn't start with data centres. We started with food.
Ten years of building, installing, operating — and engaging people with — living food ecosystems.
Circularity isn't a campaign. It's how we build.
The next economy is not built by managing waste better. It is built by designing waste out of the system.
A data centre can become a resource centre.
Recovered heat can be useful without implying all heat or water can be reused. Mushroom-respired CO₂ is a potential controlled input to plant production — subject to feasibility, air-quality and safety design.
Every resource deserves another life.
A circular system with real inputs, outputs, treatment and losses — not a perpetual motion machine. Data centre cooling water never enters fish, crop or spirulina systems: heat crosses an isolated exchanger only.
Recover energy. Grow nutrition.
Suitable recovered heat may replace some conventional heating — depending on temperature, location, season and design.
Food security is becoming
an infrastructure challenge.
Climate instability, rising agricultural input costs and fragile global supply chains are changing how we need to grow food.
Drought, floods & climate extremes · diesel-dependent agriculture & transport · global fertiliser inputs · rising food prices & supply disruption
Decentralised urban growing · data centre heat recovery · circular water & nutrients · Farmwall in workplaces, schools, aged care & communities · local food access, education & agency
Food security isn't only about producing more food. It's about giving communities greater access, resilience and agency.
The real innovation is decentralisation.
This is a decentralisation partnership — not merely a macrofarm.
Integrated resource-recovery hub at a partner site. Volume crops, spirulina, mushrooms. (proposed)
Farmwall units in offices, schools, aged care, hospitality and community centres. (existing model)
Production · distribution · maintenance · education · engagement · monitoring · technology.
Food is the beginning. Agency is the outcome.
Farmwall's existing model combines produce and growing infrastructure with education and engagement.
Intended benefits — not clinically proven health outcomes.
The impact travels further than the food.
Community learning and transparent environmental reporting may strengthen public trust and social licence for responsible digital infrastructure.
What if you could own the infrastructure
that feeds your community?
- Investors or fleet owners could finance vehicles.
- A central network would coordinate mobility services.
- Vehicles could provide services generating recurring revenue.
PROPOSED OWNERSHIP ANALOGY · NO TESLA AFFILIATION
- Community investors finance growing systems or fleets.
- Deployed in workplaces, schools, aged care & community centres.
- Farmwall operates, maintains and services the fleet.
- Contracted sites generate recurring service revenue.
- Investors may receive income under structured agreements.
From mobility to food: separate ownership from operation. Grow produce, education, agency & connection to nature.
Capital builds the infrastructure. Farmwall scales the service.
The research ecosystem already exists.
Led by Professor Damminda Alahakoon, involving NEXTDC, Fujitsu, University of Western Australia and AQ Intelligence.
La Trobe, NEXTDC and consortium partners have not agreed to participate in this Farmwall proposal.
Heat recovery, thermal reuse, circular food production and OpenGrowAI.
LaunchPad — Farmwall's connection to La Trobe's entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Can digital infrastructure help power decentralised food systems?
Hypothesis H1 — Integrating suitable data centre waste-heat recovery with modular controlled-environment food production and AI-enabled optimisation may improve total system resource efficiency and commercial viability compared with equivalent separately operated systems, while generating measurable community benefits.
Prove one. Replicate many.
Partner alignment, baseline data, concept engineering
Lab or controlled testbed, isolated thermal systems, digital twin
At an approved operational or adjacent facility — subject to partner agreement
National decentralised deployment
From research thesis to investment-ready climate technology.
ARENA Launchpad — Startup Funding Round. Subject to applicant eligibility, alignment with ARENA's energy mandate and competitive assessment. No eligibility or award likelihood is asserted.
Energy efficiency · thermal recovery · emissions abatement · technology development · commercial readiness
Food and community outcomes — complementary, not substitutes for energy outcomes
Imagine the infrastructure of 2036.
We don't need to choose between the digital future and the living world. We can design them to thrive together.
Speculative vision — not a forecastLet's build the first living intelligence infrastructure partnership.
- 01Co-develop the research thesis.
- 02Identify academic and industry partners.
- 03Assess a suitable demonstration site.
- 04Build the ARENA-aligned technical and commercial case.
- 05Define a scalable Australian infrastructure model.
Research assumptions & technical unknowns
| AREA | ASSUMPTION | UNKNOWN TO TEST |
|---|---|---|
| Heat | Some data centre heat is recoverable at useful grades | Temperature, availability, seasonality, exchanger performance |
| Water | Food-system water is fully separated from facility cooling water | Treatment needs, make-up volumes, discharge requirements |
| Biology | Spirulina, fish, crops and mushrooms can be co-located | Cross-contamination risk, productivity, stability |
| CO₂ | Mushroom CO₂ may enrich plant zones | Air-quality, safety, controllability |
| Acoustics | Living façades could form part of acoustic design | Algae panels alone are not assumed to provide verified insulation |
| Controls | OpenGrowAI can optimise across subsystems | Data access, model accuracy, operator integration |
Pilot measurement framework
| METRIC | UNIT | BASELINE | METHOD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recovered thermal energy | MWh_th | TBD | Heat meters on isolated loop |
| Heating energy displaced | MWh | TBD | Comparison vs conventional heating baseline |
| Pumping & conditioning electricity | MWh | TBD | Sub-metering |
| Water balance | kL in / out / lost | TBD | Flow meters, quality sampling |
| Food output | kg by crop | TBD | Harvest logs |
| Net emissions | t CO₂-e | TBD | Lifecycle assessment |
| Community engagement | Participants, sessions | TBD | Programme records & surveys |
Commercial model & financial assumptions
| ELEMENT | WORKING ASSUMPTION | STATUS |
|---|---|---|
| Hub capital | Funded by data centre / infrastructure partners | To be tested |
| Fleet capital | Funded by community / infrastructure investors | Requires legal & regulatory structuring |
| Farmwall revenue | Recurring service, production, maintenance, engagement, technology | Model in development |
| Host-site fees | Agreed service fees | To be validated with sites |
| Investor income | Possible, under structured arrangement | No returns promised |
| Pricing, margins, payback | — | Not yet modelled — placeholder |
Potential partners & status
| ORGANISATION | POTENTIAL ROLE | STATUS |
|---|---|---|
| La Trobe University | Research partner | Conversation — no agreement |
| La Trobe LaunchPad | Entrepreneurship ecosystem | Existing connection |
| Sporadical City Mushrooms | Mushroom production partner | To be verified |
| NEXTDC, Fujitsu, UWA, AQ Intelligence | Members of La Trobe's separate NCTC project | Not approached / no involvement implied |
| Data centre operator | Site & heat partner | To be identified |
| ARENA | Possible funder | Eligibility to be confirmed |
Evidence & source links
| SOURCE | LINK |
|---|---|
| La Trobe — quantum leap in sustainable data centres | latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2026/release/project-a-quantum-leap-in-sustainable-data-centres |
| ARENA — Launchpad Startup Funding Round | arena.gov.au/funding/launchpad-program-startup-funding-round/ |
| ARENA — Launchpad Program | arena.gov.au/funding/launchpad-program/ |
| La Trobe — Energy Analytics Platform | latrobe.edu.au/cdac/research/research-projects/la-trobe-energy-analytics-platform |
| La Trobe — Community & partnerships for sustainable development | latrobe.edu.au/sustainability/sustainability-strategy/community-and-partnerships-for-sustainable-development |
Funding pathway & outstanding eligibility questions
| QUESTION | OWNER | STATUS |
|---|---|---|
| Does Farmwall meet ARENA Launchpad startup applicant criteria? | Farmwall | Open |
| Is the energy outcome case strong enough for ARENA's mandate? | Farmwall + research partner | Open |
| Co-contribution requirements and sources | Farmwall | Open |
| Is a demonstration site available, and on what terms? | Partners | Open |
| Deadline: 28 Oct 2026, 4pm AEDT — achievable scope? | Farmwall | Open |