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Greenhouse dehumidification
With rising costs of energy and pressure from retailers to reduce carbon emissions, controlled environment horticulture (CEH) has been moving towards even higher efficiency production in glasshouse models. This often comes in the form of ‘closed’ or ‘semi-closed’ designs. These systems minimise air infiltration and attempt to maintain an indoor environment to maximise the effectiveness…
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Agrivoltaics for controlled environment horticulture
The uptake of renewable electricity production in the UK controlled environment horticulture (CEH) industry has been lower than other sectors. In large part, this is because CEH set-ups in glasshouses do not have the large open spaces or unused roof areas needed for the popular generation options. Agrivoltaics has potential to change this dynamic. Simply,…
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Exploring energy innovation in the Netherlands
Via the GrowSave project, NFU Energy organised a 3-day Study Tour to the Netherlands in March for UK greenhouse growers. Our focus, of course, was energy – using it more efficiently, sustainably, cost-effectively and learning about new technology and innovation. The Dutch are among the top commercial horticulturalist in the world, with a particular talent…
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Installing small-scale wind turbines – what do you need to be aware of?
Landscape Wind power frequently contributes between 10% and 60% of the UK electricity power grid. Although the onshore currently installed capacity is comparable with offshore, the planned developments heavily favour offshore. This is predominantly due to difficulties with planning permissions and restrictions on the maximum onshore turbine height. Project Status[1] Generation Capacity (GW) Onshore Offshore…
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What does Scope 3 carbon reporting mean for Horticultural business?
Many retailers are applying pressure to their supply chain to complete some form of carbon reporting , with the goal to account for the supply chain emissions of the produce they sell. Unfortunately, this is often pursued without consistency in approach between retailers. Some retailers will recommend or even mandate the use of one of…
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Effective use of screens for energy efficiency
Screens are an important element of glasshouse production as they have a key role in how you control the growing environment. Learn how you can use them effectively to help optimise greenhouse energy efficiency. Although adding screens to glasshouses is common practice across protected horticulture., there is often a general attitude of ‘set and forget’…
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Conducting an Energy Audit
Growing many horticultural crops is necessarily energy intensive, particularly when targeting important out-of-season markets. Energy has always been an important consideration for these businesses, but the past few years have increased costs by double or more, making the management of energy one of the foremost concerns in protected horticulture. What is an energy audit and…
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Energy efficiency in glasshouses 2023 workshops – a summary.
In 2023, Growsave organised two workshops focusing on energy efficiency in glasshouses; one on 4th April hosted by Clock House Farm in Maidstone, and the other on 11th July in Boston, Lincolnshire. The content covered was the same for both events: These presentations covered the basic concepts, worked examples of how energy fits into horticultural…
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Glasshouse heat recovery
Make the most of the heat in your glasshouse that may otherwise be considered “waste”. Read on to learn about the different areas in your glasshouse where you can recover heat to use more productively and ultimately improve your efficiencies. Refrigeration Many glasshouse sites include refrigeration, either as part of a chilled environment or in…
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Floating Solar
Solar Photovoltaic (PV) has been undergoing a quiet revolution in the last decade, transitioning from one of the more expensive renewable generations solutions to the least expensive, and enabling farmers and growers to benefit from it without the need for subsidy or incentive. Often categorised with Farming, Horticulture does not always have one of the…
