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Except in Iceland, they do a decent job with their geothermally heated greenhouses. They're very proud of the tomatoes.
by kaybe 7y ago
Except in Iceland, they do a decent job with their geothermally heated greenhouses. They're very proud of the tomatoes.
- _ph_ 7y agoWhich brings up the thought - what about the efficiency of solar powered greenhouses? As solar cells are more efficient at catching the sunlight than plants - might boost the overall efficiency of growing things without negative environment impact.
- morsch 7y agoIs that even theoretically possible? Unless you find a way to grow plants directly from electrical power, you'll need to rely on a light source and the (purportedly) less efficient photo receptors of the plants in the end. I guess you could modify the broad spectrum of light emitted by the sun into a more narrow spectrum that plants are most efficient at.
- nitrogen 7y agoI guess you could modify the broad spectrum of light emitted by the sun into a more narrow spectrum that plants are most efficient at. Turn the green into red and blue?
- morsch 7y agoWell, yes, effectively. By turning all the incoming light (including red, green and blue, and the non-visible spectrum, given a solar cell that's sensitive to it) into electricity and using that electricity to power a grow light. I'm not saying that it's a feasible way to get more energy flux into the plants this way; I think it's unlikely. But that's theoretically a way to do it. If on the other hand you emit light on the same spectrum as you receive it, then it's impossible to generate more flux, even in theory.
- pjc50 7y agoA normal greenhouse is passive solar powered.
- hvidgaard 7y agoModern solar panels and high efficiency GHP, are getting upto a point where it's comparable to the heat you get from direct sunlight. So I don't think it's far off that we see green houses heated purely by solar energy, with the added benefit of being energy sink during low demand (night) and energy source during demand (day).
- ivanhoe 7y agoGeothermal heating is possible in most places even without volcanos or hot springs that Iceland has. The temperature of soil just 0.5m under the surface is almost constant over the year, and soil due to huge thermal mass can act as an excellent free heat reservoir during the winter. All you need is a sufficiently large area of land to burrow your heat exchanger pipes, and a simple ventilation system (that can easily be solar powered).