Starting in April, a project in the Aomori city of Mutsu, at the northern tip of Honshu, will grow tomatoes using a new cultivation method that will go beyond zero carbon and actually absorb more CO2 than it emits. Built on a large abandoned farm, the facility will also create 100 new jobs.
Its Venlo greenhouse is equipped with an automatic environmental control system for adjusting temperature, moisture, and the level of carbon dioxide in the air. The tomatoes will be hydroponically cultivated, and the management of water and fertilization will also be automated.
Mutsu Mayor Tomoya Yamamoto said: "To keep the air inside the greenhouse warm, a biomass boiler that burns wood chips to generate heat was installed. Forests make up about 80% of the total area of the prefecture, so we can use a natural resource we already have instead of using fossil fuels." The carbon dioxide produced by burning the chips won't go to waste — it will be supplied to the tomatoes growing in the greenhouse to accelerate photosynthesis. The amount of carbon dioxide emitted from the boiler and used for cultivation is estimated at up to 4,500 tons annually.
Cutting down old trees and planting seedlings is also an effective way to enhance the absorption of carbon dioxide emissions. "Younger trees absorb more CO2 than older ones. We plan to use part of the profit from the tomato farm for reforestation," Yamamoto said. About 40,000 trees will be planted across 20 hectares of forest land annually.
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