I remember that Rob Young used to use the heat from his compost pile in his greenhouse at his farm in Chemung County. Not just wood chips, but a mix of materials. Rob taught the Green Cities course at Cornell before he migrated to Eugene, Oregon.
On Oct 7, 2008, at 8:05 AM, Patricia Haines wrote: > 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 ---------------------------------------------------- Gay Nicholson, Ph.D. 607-533-7312 (home office) 607-279-6618 (cell) 1 Maple Avenue Lansing, NY 14882 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sustainable Tompkins Program Coordinator www.sustainabletompkins.org Southern Tier Energy$mart Communities Regional Coordinator Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County 615 Willow Ave., Ithaca, NY 14850 [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ 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
