Abstract
Greenhouse agriculture is particularly vulnerable to problems of energy cost and disruption. Energy usage in greenhouses is concentrated, critical, and quite costly, whether growers operate in the North or South. For example, about 80% of the heating fuel in northeastern greenhouses is consumed in 5 months, November through March; 3 months, December through February, account for two-thirds of that usage. A disruption of energy on an icy cold day or extremely hot day could mean a disastrous loss of crops, or a sharp increase in energy costs could create serious cash flow problems. Fortunately, considerable energy savings are possible by modification of existing structures and by innovative designs of future facilities.
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© 1986 Raymond P. Poincelot
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Poincelot, R.P. (1986). Greenhouse Energy Conservation. In: Toward a More Sustainable Agriculture. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1506-3_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1506-3_4
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