Nico van Ruiten opens the Energiek Event
The ambition to achieve a climate-neutral greenhouse horticulture is real, says Nico. Horticulture is a forerunner in the field of greening, of searching for and investing in climate-neutral production, and in this regard we distinguish ourselves positively. "There are three things we do well, there is a good cooperation between research, business and government (the so-called golden triangle); the sharing of a lot of knowledge, and of course there is a drive to produce cheaper, but increasingly also from an awareness than it must be done more sustainably."
Nieves Garcia (WUR Greenhouse Horticulture) talks about the trials with gerbera
Greenhouse horticulture is heading towards an emission of less than 5.0 megatons of CO2 before 2020, LTO Glaskracht Netherlands reports. That is a reduction of 40% from 2010. To bring this emission to 0, the existing CO2 systems and heating networks need to be expanded. To this end, solid collaboration within that famous golden triangle is necessary, but Van Ruiten is confident here. Whether or not the Netherlands will have a distinct green cabinet soon, the development to climate-neutral greenhouse horticulture has started and will not easily get off course.
Hans van der Berg talks about the heat clusters in South Holland. "A few years back we were wondering: should we really start with that, the extraction of waste heat. Now it is rather the question: How do we utilize this heat as efficiently as possible."
During the afternoon, participants at the Horticultural Science Park in Bleiswijk could choose from a full program of workshops. Discussed were ongoing research, particularly in the area of Next Generation Growing, attempts to achieve energy gains with different crops and technical innovations in water, glass, fabric, lighting and more. Next the participants were guided past the several test setups at the research site of WUR (Wageningen University & Research) Greenhouse Horticulture and short presentations were held.
Govert Trouwborst (Plant Lighting) tells of the quest for the ideal light recipe for tomatoes
Jan Janse explains the 2SaveEnergy Greenhouse: how to grow tomatoes with as little gas as possible
Not a part of the tour, but nice to see: the plants of the much talked about Vanilla project
Searching for 'smart materials' is of course a permanent item of research: how can sheets, lamps, gutters etc.
Full house