‘greening the greenhouse’ at the living rainforest: from biomass to ec flagship? low carbon...
TRANSCRIPT
‘Greening the Greenhouse’ at The Living Rainforest:
From Biomass to EC Flagship?
Low Carbon Buildings Programme 2, Opening Event, BRE Watford, 2 June 2008
Creating a sustainability experience, connecting global and local issues
& promoting sustainable ways of living to
safeguard future communities and ecosystems
Integrated Greenhouse ProjectPhase 0 (2003/4)
SEEDA 2003Seed funding - £40k
GreenSys 2004Established partnerships with Professor Gerard Bot and team at Wageningen University, and the renewable energy team at TV Energy
EC Life Environment Unit
2.3m € funding Integrated Greenhouse
Project
Integrated Greenhouse ProjectPhase 1 (2005/6)
Human Impact Building
Purpose: To demonstrate sustainable low-carbon design, operation and use
Our Heating Journey… from oil to local wood chip
... the first public indoor rainforest garden to convert to wood chip heating
CO2 emissions per unit of energy supplied
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Gra
ms
of
CO
2 p
er
kW
h
Woodfuelled heat
Wind power
Solar PV m-si
Solar PV p-Si
Natural gas heating
Light fuel oil heating
• Integration, part 1: biomass & oil
– continuity of supply?– put all heating devices ‘behind the heat storage
bunker’?
• Integration, part 2: ground source heat storage & biomass
Some Lessons
Integrated Greenhouse ProjectPhase 2 (2007/8)
Green Greenhouse / Vertical Soil Heat Exchanger (VSHE)
The Problem
Unsustainable food (crop) production in energy-wasteful greenhouses, using non-renewable energy
Lack of integration of greenhouses with other buildings
Lack of investment in low-carbon design
Confusion about what is ‘best practice’ among growers and government
Download presentations at www.livingrainforest.org/seminardownloads.htm
Direct energy expended by various sectors of agriculture in the UK by use in 2005
(from: Warwick HRI 2007).
Horticulture 101• Fruit & vegetables account for 2.5-3%
of UK greenhouse gas emissions (Garnett, 2006)
• UK horticulture accounts for about 28% of all energy used in UK agriculture
• UK protected crops covering 749 ha used 3,318 GWh / year (Warwick HRI, 2007)
Integrated Greenhouse ProjectPhase 2 (2007/8)
Green Greenhouse / Vertical Soil Heat Exchanger (VSHE)
Let’s build a sustainable future
together • Blue sky thinking is needed
• Boldness or bust
• Beyond immediate CO2 reductions to potential for long term behaviour change (production methods, consumption patterns)
Good Luck!
The Living Rainforestwww.livingrainforest.org
Integrated Greenhouse Projectwww.livingrainforest.org/ig T: (01635) 202444
Karl [email protected]