Project type: Energy Efficiency
Project location: Switzerland
Project status: In operation, exclusive
Annual CO₂ reduction: 1280 t
The goal of this climate protection project is switching over to a renewable source of heating for climate-friendly vegetable production in the greenhouse operation "Ott Gemüse", which supplys Migros. The potential for the reduction of CO2 emissions by forgoing the use of fossil fuels in greenhouses is enormous.
In Switzerland, a large proportion of fruit and vegetables produced for consumption is done so domestically. Popular crops such as tomatoes or cucumbers are often grown in specialised, highly professional greenhouse operations. Alongside protection from the elements, a big advantage of heated greenhouses over open air cultivation is a greater consistency in crop growth over an extended period. From an economic perspective, heating using fossil fuels such as natural gas, propane, or heating oil is still the cheapest method. However, this produces a large quantity of climate damaging CO2. For the Ott greenhouse in Basadingen, TG, a financial incentive for the conversion to a renewable heat pump was therefore created with a subsidy from the M climate fund.
Climate change is a reality. Migros has therefore set ambitious goals for the reduction of CO2 in its own operations. They are now going a step further and would like to significantly reduce CO2 emissions from the Swiss production of fruit and vegetables with one of its central supplier.
In conventional greenhouse cultivation, the fruits and vegetables are normally supplied with underfloor heating and/or vegetation heating in the immediate vicinity of the plants. Besides technical and economic feasibility, various renewable technologies are worth consideration from an ecological perspective. In this project, the option of a water-to-water heat pump was chosen as the source of heating energy. With the nearby Geissli stream, the greenhouse operation has a year-round source of water and heat. Flowing waters are ideally suited for a reliable heat supply thanks to less high, seasonal temperature fluctuations. This project was assessed and implemented by the canton of Thurgau and regional stakeholders (including environmental associations and fishing associations) under the strictest criteria.
The subsidy was determined individually and paid to the producer by the M-Klimafonds in exchange for the assignment of the emission reduction rights. The project anticipates a one-off investment amount, in addition to annual climate protection contributions from the business.
Do you have any questions? Do not hesitate to contact us by Email, +41 (0)44 500 43 50
7930-001
