Articles
ENERGY SAVING STRATEGIES IN GREENHOUSE INDUSTRY.
This might indicate that most of the country should be permanently covered by snow, but this is, however, not the case due to the Golf stream.
The southern part of the country, which is called Skaane, has hardly any snow.
The mean temperature and the solar radiant energy may be studied in table 1 and 2. The solar radiation during the winter is very low and is the limiting growth factor for greenhouse production.
The size of Sweden is 450 000 km2 with a population of approximately 8.2 mill. (Japan 370 000 km2, 115 mill. inhabitants). Most of the greenhouse industry was established between the two world wars, with its greatest development during the last 30 years.
The total greenhouse area (table 3) has increased by only 10 % during the last 5 years.
The area corresponds to 0.5 m2 per capita.
The equivalent figures for West-Germany is 0.3 m2, Norway 0.6 m2, Finland 0.7m2, Denmark 1.2 m2, and for the Netherlands 6.0 m2. Most of the greenhouses in Sweden are located in Skaane which has 1.2 m2 greenhouse area per capita.
The greenhouse establishments are fairly small which table 4 demonstrates.
Fifty percent of the greenhouses are more than 25 years old.
Many different greenhouse crops are produced, and the proportions between vegetables, cut flowers, pot plants, and bedding plants can be seen in table 5. These proportions are quite typical for the Scandinavian countries.
The production of cut flowers has decreased while the pot plant production has increased.
As much as 50 % of the horticultural product consumed in Sweden is being imported (table 6). The producers compete very closely with those who are favoured by a more suitable climate.
The import duty (tax) varies with the different products and during the year.
Duty on poinsettias is only 3 – 4 % while it is 50 % on chrysanthemums.
It is interesting to notice, however, in this connection that the income per sq m is more favourable for poinsettias than for chrysanthemums in Sweden.
Approximately 15 000 people are employed in horticulture.
Labour cost is 38 Skr*per hour.
This is equivalent to 30 – 40 % of the production costs while the energy amounts to 20 – 30 %. The oil being used for heating the greenhouses is subsidized by 6 – 7 % (35 Skr per m3). The government is attempting to stimulate the growers to install different types of energy conservation equipment by paying 35 % of the costs, with a maximum of 75 000 Skr per holding.
This is equivalent to what other industries obtain.
Rolling benches that increase the net area by 20–40% * 1Skr = 44 yen