does anyone locally use the heat generated by decomposing wood chips for greenhouse and/or cold frame heat?
LEVEL GREEN - fostering sustainable community through collaborative initiatives in hospitality, education and the arts, in the 150 year-old democratic spirit of the Danish Folk School. 1519 Slaterville Road, Ithaca, NY 14850 (607) 339-9472 --- On Fri, 10/3/08, Joel and Sarah Gagnon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From: Joel and Sarah Gagnon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [SustainableTompkins] Radical tomatoes:Where would I find > economic analysis of farming? > To: "Sustainable Tompkins County listserv" > <[email protected]> > Date: Friday, October 3, 2008, 1:35 PM > It may help in contemplating the options to consider the > economics of > greenhouse production as compared to in-the-ground and > outside production. > The latter is comparatively pretty efficient, given a > congenial growing > environment, and that is the biggest constraint. It > accounts for > California's dominance of the fresh produce business in > the cheap energy > era. Lots of sunlight, moderate temperatures for a large > part of the year, > and subsidized water provided a compelling advantage when > shipping costs > were low. We can compete "in season", but that > seasonality led to market > dominance by the California (and Mexico and Florida) > growers. Greenhouse > production to extend the season has always been a part of > the equation, but > generally for high-value crops. Even then, we were always > being undercut by > greenhouse operations farther south where less heat and > supplemental light > are needed. Greenhouses, generally plastic, are often used > to extend the > season at both ends here, since the heating and lighting > needs are lower to > do that than for winter production. > > What would change this? Improvements in lighting efficiency > would help, but > since heat is generally needed as well, reduced energy > requirements for > light would translate into higher need for heating energy. > I think the > biggest opportunity for expanding production lies in > tapping "waste" heat > (really it is wasted heat). That occurs in electricity > generation. AES > Cayuga is one large generator of wasted heat that could > support a > greenhouse complex producing winter vegetables. Waste heat > is also a > byproduct of the oxidation of organic matter at the sewage > treatment plant, > where the methane produced can also be tapped. Ditto for > dairy operations, > if they were they linked to adjacent greenhouses. I > remember reading of the > lengths that some northern European countries have gone to > to capture and > use heat routinely wasted in our cheap energy economy. We > can and should to > do the same, but agricultural use will have to compete with > alternative > uses for the same energy. Market forces will distribute the > energy to the > highest bidder -- and food purchases tend to be made from > the lowest cost > producers. > > Without tapping and using currently wasted energy, the best > available > technology struggles to compete. Rising energy costs will > favor outdoor and > seasonal production increasingly. I expect the cost of > out-of-season > foodstuffs to rise more and faster than the basic storable > stuff. Maybe > there will be a place for growing tomatoes under lights in > highly insulated > buildings, but they won't be cheap (or very natural, > for those of us who > care about that). > > Joel > > At 11:50 AM 10/2/08 -0400, you wrote: > >Hello everybody. > > > >I ran into this neat but frankly Utopian plan of > Dickson Despommier to do > >high rise farming in cities...it was written up in > >http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/36823/title/Let%E2%80%99s_Get_Vertical > > > >but the reality is it will take money and it will take > space. We recently > >kicked around the > >question of what fate the looming resource crunches > would deal to suburban > >living and sometimes tangle over the sustainability of > cities but the hybrid > >farm/city envisioned in the article is a slightly > different beast. > > > >Where better than S/T to ask how one dopes out the > feasibility of such > >schemes. > >In particular: > >what is the cost/kg of delivered food if you throw in > all long and short > >term liabilities and subtract subsidies? ...that is the > number that has to > >beat farming efficiency [including the trucking and > refrigeration costs] out > >in the farming districts by enough to warrant the > regulation and the taking > >of city real estate for green houses. > > > >-George > >-- > >freedom is not more important than fairness and much > easier to fake. > >_______________________________________________ > >For more information about sustainability in the > Tompkins County area, > >please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > > >RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information > for: > >[email protected] > >http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > >free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins > County area, please visit: > http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
