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Behold! The Guilt-Free December Tomato
Just over an hour’s drive from the Icelandic capital of Reykjavík, the greenhouses of Friðheimar farm emit a warm glow that cuts through the dark, cold landscape of a sub-arctic winter. Inside the greenhouses, rows of bright red, juicy tomatoes await their harvest, all thanks to water drawn from a nearby geothermal well that is keeping 2,000 square feet of plants in constant, life-sustaining warmth.
It’s the success of Iceland’s geothermal greenhouses such as at Friðheimar that has inspired the NunatuKavut Community Council (NCC) of southern Labrador to now start thinking about geothermal greenhouses for their communities.
Part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, here frost can arrive by late September and linger until May. The short growing season has traditionally meant that communities have had no choice but to rely on fresh produce transported into them by truck and ferry. These supply chains are vulnerable to climate shocks such as severe flooding and winter storms that can leave roads impassable for days.
The greenhouses of Friðheimar are kept constantly warm thanks to water drawn from a nearby geothermal well, even during bitter Icelandic winters. Credit: Friðheimar.
“Some of our communities have greenhouses, but they’re very tiny,” says Krista Oxford, acting director and manager of the Department of Energy for the NCC, the representative governing body for approximately 6,000 Inuit in south and central Labrador. Those greenhouses that do exist rely on diesel fuel for heating.
Conventional greenhouses use fossil fuels such as diesel to regulate temperature. Because of this, they have earned a reputation as one of the most energy-intensive and costly methods of cultivation. Approximately 65 to 85 percent of the total energy consumed in a greenhouse is used for heating. This is expensive, especially in northern latitudes and extreme climates, where it can account for up to 70 to 85 percent of the total operation cost.
“Diesel use is still a reality for so many remote communities,” says Joe Collier, project manager for the nonprofit Net Zero Atlantic, a team of scientists and researchers that is currently helping the NCC determine the feasibility of using geothermal energy in southern Labrador. Even when compared to natural gas use in a greenhouse, geothermal uses about one-fifth of the amount of fossil fuels, resulting in about 83 percent less in carbon or greenhouse gas emissions, according to Collier.
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To create electricity, large-scale geothermal energy projects often require drilling miles underground to tap into water temperatures high enough that the steam generated can be used to power turbines and create electricity.
Low-grade geothermal energy, on the other hand, as Collier explains, uses warm water sometimes no more than several hundred feet below ground. When diverted through piping systems or heat pumps, this type of system can be used for large or small-scale greenhouse growing in all climates.
The post Behold! The Guilt-Free December Tomato appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.
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