Articles
SIMULATION MODEL FOR DETERMINING THE EFFECTS OF FARM SPECIFIC ASPECTS ON ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN GLASSHOUSES
Differences in energy consumption between farms are affected by farm set-up, energy saving equipment, local weather and glasshouse climate.
For 10 farms with sweet pepper a simulation model has been used for calculating the energy consumption on farm level on the basis of the farm set-up, local weather, energy saving equipment and glasshouse climate.
The model has also been used for calculating the energy consumption for a standard farm set-up, one weather location and the average actual glasshouse climate to determine the separate effects.
The results pointed out that the individual farm set-up and the individual glasshouse climate had the main impact on the differences in energy consumption between farms (30 and 16%, respectively).
A relatively constant ratio was found between the simulated energy consumption in the individual situation and the simulated energy consumption in a standard situation (standard farm set-up and average weather). This ratio can be used for eliminating the effects of individual farm set-up and local weather on energy consumption.
A ratio figure is calculated with which the actual energy consumption can be adjusted.
The adjusted energy consumptions of the farms are input for discussion in excursion groups about the grower’s climate strategy and the use of energy saving equipment.