Tuinbouw zonder fossiele energie

Society asks for serious decrement of CO2 emissions, which means that greenhouse horticulture will haveto change from natural gas as the dominant energy source towards alternatives. This report describes suchalternatives and their effects on the energy costs. For this, a model built by AAB Netherlands was used. As inputit uses the time varying demands on heat, electricity and CO2 and the prices for energy-commodities, equipment,taxes and levies. Computations have been made for 6 typical greenhouse cultivations, representing the rangeof greenhouses in the Netherlands. It is concluded that energy costs will go up, but that the increment canbe limited by adopting new ways of heating. Heat distribution systems for large clusters of greenhouses showpromising possibilities, but also low grade heat obtained from surface water bodies or from heat excesses of thegreenhouse itself may serve as a heat source. In almost all cases, heat pumps will be part of the system and thenow widely used combined heat and power will disappear when natural gas is no longer available. Because of themajor role of heat pumps, growers may prepare their greenhouses for the application of low temperature heatingsystems and make preparations for energy conserving measures. The project is funded by Kas Als Energiebron ,an innovation and action program supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and thegrowers association LTO-Glaskracht Nederland.