WATCHPLANT · Project

Living Plant Sensors That Monitor City Air Quality and Farm Conditions Wirelessly

environmentPrototypeTRL 4Thin data (2/5)

Imagine turning ordinary street trees and garden plants into pollution detectors — no batteries needed. Researchers built tiny wearable devices that clip onto plants and tap into their natural sap flow to power sensors and measure air quality, weather, and even early signs of disease outbreaks. The plant literally becomes a living weather station that sends data wirelessly to a central network. It's like giving every tree in a city the ability to text you when the air gets bad.

By the numbers

consortium partners developing the technology

countries in development network (DE, ES, HR, PL, SE)

project deliverables produced

SMEs involved in commercialization path

universities contributing research

demonstration-level deliverables

The business problem

What needed solving

Cities and farms need thousands of environmental sensors to monitor air quality, weather, and crop health — but traditional sensor networks are expensive to install, need constant battery replacements, and require dedicated infrastructure. Remote forests and large agricultural areas remain essentially unmonitored because there's no power grid to run sensors.

The solution

What was built

The project built wireless self-powered wearable sensors that attach to living plants, using phloem sap for both environmental sensing and energy generation. They delivered prediction models validated in urban and agronomic fields, along with 26 total deliverables including AI-based distributed data processing for networked plant sensors.

Audience

Who needs this

Smart city environmental monitoring companiesPrecision agriculture and AgTech providersForestry management and wildfire prevention servicesUrban planning consultancies focused on green infrastructureAir quality monitoring equipment manufacturers

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Urban environmental monitoring

enterprise

Target: Smart city solution providers and municipal environment agencies

If you are a smart city technology provider dealing with the high cost and maintenance burden of deploying hundreds of traditional air quality stations — this project developed self-powered plant-based sensors that use living urban vegetation as monitoring infrastructure. The devices harvest energy from plant sap, eliminating battery replacement across an 8-partner, 5-country tested network. This could dramatically cut your sensor deployment and maintenance costs for city-wide environmental monitoring.

Precision agriculture

mid-size

Target: AgTech companies and large-scale farm operators

If you are an agricultural technology company struggling to provide affordable field-level monitoring across large crop areas — this project developed wearable plant sensors that measure both environmental conditions and crop physiological state in real time. The prediction models validated in agronomic fields combine chemical, physical, and biological data for early stress detection. This means you can catch crop problems days before they become visible.

Forestry management

any

Target: Forestry services and wildfire prevention agencies

If you are a forestry management organization dealing with the impossibility of monitoring vast forest areas for drought stress, disease, or fire risk — this project developed wireless self-powered sensors that turn trees themselves into monitoring stations. With distributed data processing and AI-based prediction models, you get continuous forest health data without needing power infrastructure or manual sensor checks in remote areas.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to deploy these plant sensors at scale?

Based on available project data, specific unit costs are not disclosed. The sensors are designed to be self-powered using plant sap energy harvesting, which eliminates ongoing battery costs. The project involved 2 SMEs and 2 industrial partners, suggesting a path toward commercial manufacturing, but pricing has not been published.

Can this scale from a few plants to city-wide or farm-wide deployment?

The project specifically built distributed network architecture with AI-based decision-making for exactly this purpose. The prediction models were validated in both urban and agronomic field settings. With 8 consortium partners across 5 countries contributing to the distributed processing design, the system was architected for large-scale deployment.

Who owns the IP and can I license this technology?

The consortium of 8 partners across 5 countries developed the technology under EU RIA funding rules, which typically allow partners to retain IP on their contributions. The coordinator is ASOCIACION INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO DE LA ENERGIA in Spain. Licensing discussions would need to go through the relevant consortium partners who hold specific patents.

Has this been tested in real outdoor conditions or only in a lab?

The project produced prediction models validated in urban and agronomic fields, indicating real-world field testing beyond laboratory conditions. The 26 deliverables include demonstration-level outputs. However, as an FET (Future and Emerging Technologies) project, long-term outdoor durability data may still be limited.

What regulations does this need to comply with for urban deployment?

Based on available project data, specific regulatory approvals are not detailed. Attaching sensors to urban trees would involve municipal tree protection rules and wireless communication standards. The non-invasive design using sap extraction while maintaining plant health was a core research challenge the project addressed.

How long do the sensors last on a single plant?

The project specifically tackled the challenge of making long-lasting bioelectronics and extracting sufficient sap volume from a healthy plant without harming it. Based on available project data, exact sensor lifespan figures are not published, but durability was a primary research objective across the 4-year project.

Can this integrate with existing smart city or farm management platforms?

The system uses wireless data transmission and AI-based distributed information processing, which are standard integration points for smart city and precision agriculture platforms. The project built modeling and data-fitting capabilities that could feed into existing environmental monitoring dashboards.

Consortium

Who built it

The 8-partner consortium spans 5 European countries (Germany, Spain, Croatia, Poland, Sweden) with a balanced mix of 4 universities, 2 research organizations, and 2 industry players including 2 SMEs. The 25% industry ratio is typical for a research-heavy FET project, meaning the technology is still university-driven. The coordinator is a Spanish energy technology institute, which signals the clean energy harvesting angle is central. For a business looking to adopt this technology, the 2 SMEs in the consortium are the most likely commercialization partners, while the universities hold deep expertise in plant physiology and sensor engineering.

ASOCIACION INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO DE LA ENERGIACoordinator · ES
KUNGLIGA TEKNISKA HOEGSKOLANparticipant · SE
SVEUCILISTE U ZAGREBU FAKULTET ELEKTROTEHNIKE I RACUNARSTVAparticipant · HR
AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICASparticipant · ES
UNIVERSITAT KONSTANZparticipant · DE
CYBRES GMBHparticipant · DE
UNIVERSITAET zu LUEBECKparticipant · DE

How to reach the team

Coordinator is ASOCIACION INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO DE LA ENERGIA in Spain. SciTransfer can facilitate an introduction to discuss licensing or pilot opportunities.

Order a report on this consortium See ASOCIACION INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO DE LA ENERGIA profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore plant-based environmental sensors for your city or farm? SciTransfer can connect you directly with the WATCHPLANT team and help assess fit for your specific monitoring needs.

Order a report on this topic More in Environment & Climate