An initial investigation into the potential for using sealed greenhouse technologies in the UK

The background to this 2006-2007 project was that due to high energy costs and introduction of a Climate Change Levy, UK growers were forced to explore new methods to significantly reduce their dependence on fossil fuel inputs.

The Dutch response to this was to commit significant R&D effort to this end. The publicly stated aim of the Dutch Product Board for Horticulture (PT) was to develop a commercially viable greenhouse system with zero net fossil fuel input by 2020. The closed greenhouse design developed by Innogrow B.V. was one product of this commitment with the first commercial installation in the Netherlands being at Themato B.V. (in 2003). Many UK growers were aware of this project which stimulated a large amount of interest worldwide. However, many questions remain over the validity of the results claimed and the ability to adopt the technology in the UK.

Findings from this project (2007) showed that the closed greenhouse concept as used in the Netherlands was not viable in the UK mainly because of geological problems and unfavourable aspects in the UK energy market. However, some of the component parts of the system could be applied including air treatment units and evaporative cooling.

The objectives of this project were to:

• Provide guidance to the protected cropping sector on the suitability of recent closed greenhouse technology developments for application in the UK.
• Determine the current and future economic viability of closed greenhouse technology in the UK.
• Identify if any of the component parts of closed greenhouse systems could be used to enhance the performance of current best practice methods.
• Make recommendations with regard to any future work which might be required to enable closed greenhouse technologies to be successfully used in the UK.

These objectives were met by gathering and assessing information from a variety of sources including scientific publications/papers, the horticultural press and a study tour of closed greenhouse facilities in the Netherlands.