GeoHeat for Horticulture Workshop

Several existing and emerging crop systems use glasshouse or indoor systems to enable a controlled environment, to both optimise production and overcome seasonality.  However, these systems typically require heat energy, often coupled with higher electricity needs.  With New Zealand having clear targets to decarbonise energy consumption by 2050 and transition users to renewable energy sources, growers are looking at ways to switch away from fossil fuels, ideally without being beholden to fluctuating electricity prices.

Geoheat is well-placed to play an increasingly important role as New Zealand transitions to a renewable energy future. Geoheat is a renewable off-grid cost-effective heat energy source, delivering a range of temperatures from 4 oC (refrigeration) up to 200oC. It is already used for glasshouse heating in New Zealand, as well as dairy processing, timber processing and aquaculture.  Geoheat has been used extensively in the Netherlands to decarbonise their glasshouse-based production systems; this is established, proven…