The GE-Jenbacher JMS 620 gas engine provides electricity to the local municipality to offset heating costs for the greenhouse

Imagine the gas bill for a 65-acre greenhouse that grows tomatoes year-round in frigid Canada. And you thought your heating bill was high!

For Great Northern Hydroponics (GNH), in Kingsville, Ontario, however, heating costs aren’t as painful as they might be, thanks to the natural gas cogeneration plant next door that not only supplies the heat needed to grow millions of tomatoes; it also provides carbon dioxide to grow the fruit faster and larger. In turn, a symbiotic relationship is created with the greenhouse to cool the power plant. To offset the heating costs, GNH sells the electrical power that is created back to the local municipality.

Saving money — and the environment
The benefit of the cogeneration facility is to provide “cost-efficient heat and CO₂ available for growing operations in the adjacent greenhouses,” says Guido van het Hof, president and general manager of Soave Agricultural Group (SAG). “The electricity sales to the grid help offset our energy bill.”

And how. GNH, which is an entity of SAG, expects to offset their energy costs by at least 40 percent with the energy they can put back into the grid. The energy they sell back to the power company will provide light and power to 12,000 to 15,000 homes in the Kingsville area.

The project has its roots in a 2007 request from the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) for green energy projects. GNH, located 25 miles southwest of Windsor, was one of seven successful qualifiers that year for an environmentally friendly project like this one. Soon, GNH set its sights on the greenhouse industry in Europe, which had been using cogeneration and CO₂ fertilization systems for over a decade.

The result was a 20-year commitment with the Canadian government to purchase the power that is generated from the plant to power thousands of residential homes in the local area. In turn, GNH is capturing tons of CO₂ — about 15,000 tons annually, which would normally go into the atmosphere — and using it to help produce the more than three million cases of tomatoes they grow each year in their greenhouse.

Also enabling year-round production of tomatoes is the fact that 15 of the greenhouse’s 65 acres are lit with high-intensity grow lights. GNH produces more than 26 million pounds of fresh gourmet tomatoes, 75 percent of which are sold to U.S. markets, including several restaurants and other outlets in and around metro Detroit. The rest are sent down to Florida and as far west as Texas. GNH relies on Mastronardi Produce to help market their Sunset brand of tomatoes.

Talking the technology
The GNH greenhouse and cogeneration plant is the first of its kind in North America. It’s actually a tri-generation facility, meaning it burns natural gas to generate heat, electricity and CO₂, creating a “useful power cycle,” according to a statement from GNH. The greenhouse serves the purpose of providing a cooling unit for the power plant located next door by drawing heat to use in the greenhouse. The thermal energy from the power plant engines is stored in hot water tanks and can heat the greenhouse as needed.

The acoustical enclosure of the JE-Jenbacher JMS 620 gas engine includes a FlueGas scrubbing unit to clean food-grade CO2

So how does all this work? The 12 mega-watt system features four GE-Jenbacher JMS 620 gas engines as well as heat recovery and exhaust treatment equipment, noise abatement and systems controls. Via the burning of natural gas, the plant produces heat and power, providing electrical generation, hot water and carbon dioxide to the huge greenhouse. As a result, “substantial” amounts of thermal energy and CO₂ are created, according to van het Hof. The thermal energy — hot water, actually — is then supplied to the greenhouse for tomato production.

Rather than pump more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the system can capture CO₂ and use it in tomato production by using the latest in environmental technology to clean the exhaust emissions, thus extracting the CO₂ for use in the greenhouse. The cogeneration plant is entirely computerized, requiring only one or two maintenance personnel to troubleshoot and provide routine maintenance to the system.

The lifespan of a greenhouse tomato is intentionally short; there are only seven weeks from flowering to picking, according to van het Hof. The CO₂ from the cogeneration plant helps speed up production of the tomatoes, as well as make them grow larger. The tomatoes also reach the desired level of sugars quicker with this growing method. This makes the whole cogeneration project even more efficient and cost effective, he explains.

Other innovative growing practices at GNH include extensive use of biological controls, as well as raised troughs, run-off fertilizer recycling, and computerized louvers and climate controls, all which increase the nutritional value of the tomatoes, van het Hof says. These controls also help prevent fungal diseases from forming. van het Hof says the company toyed with the idea of using the cogeneration plant for energy to cool the greenhouse, but they found it isn’t cost effective in their climate.

GNH and Soave Agricultural Group became the first vegetable producer in Canada to meet the requirements of the Safe Quality Food (SQF) 1000 code, level 3 for Comprehensive Food Safety and Quality Management System. SQF is recognized by the Global Food Safety initiative.

Soave Enterprises, led by CEO Anthony Soave, is involved in a number of business enterprises — from agriculture to metals to automobiles. The enterprise even owns a cab company. Great Northern Hydroponics, established in 1998, is one of three entities of Soave Agricultural Group. The other two are Great Northern Seedlings and Soave Hydroponics Company.

Neil Moran is a horticulturist and regular contributor to Produce Grower. Visit his website at www.neilmoran.com.

Jeff Jones, managing partner of Vermont Hydroponic Produce, currently operates greenhouses in Florence, Vt., and Quebec, where he grows Big Dana, Clarence and Castella tomato varieties hydroponically. Photo Courtesy Of Vermont Hydroponic Produce LLC

To compete with greenhouses in warmer climates, northern growers have to get creative. Jeff Jones, managing partner of Vermont Hydroponic Produce LLC (http://vermonthydroponic.com), currently operates greenhouses in Florence, Vt., and Quebec, where he grows Big Dana, Clarence and Castella tomato varieties hydroponically. He’s signed onto a renewable energy project that would integrate two new five-acre greenhouses with a 29.5-megawatt biomass-fired power plant and wood pellet manufacturer.

The Fair Haven Biomass Energy Center project, which is estimated to cost $200 million, still needs two permits to proceed. Construction is estimated to take two years once the project gets the green light.

Low-grade steam, waste heat and waste water will be piped directly to the greenhouses from the biomass power plant and the pellet facility, which would enable Vermont Hydroponic to grow tomatoes and other vegetables year-round. The cost of growing all year in Vermont is much higher than in Florida, Arizona or Mexico, and Jones is looking for something to erase that competitive disadvantage.

Tom Emero, managing director of development and operations for Beaver Wood Energy, the company behind the proposed energy center, says it will be one of the most technologically advanced and environmentally friendly biomass plants in the U.S. He says the project will add 300 new jobs — 25 jobs at the biomass power plant, 25 jobs at the pellet manufacturing facility, 100 jobs at the greenhouses and Grower’s Hub and another 150 jobs in the forest industry.

The biomass plant will produce electricity fueled by locally harvested wood. The wood fuel supply will be tree tops, branches, bark and excess wood that is often unused when wood is harvested for paper, lumber, or pellets. Most of the wood will come from within 50 miles of the plant. According to Beaver Wood Energy’s website, experienced foresters will work to protect forest health.

From the ground up
This isn’t the first time Jones has attempted to harness his energy costs. He’s looked at alternative ways to heat greenhouses, including being part of a project called Carbon Harvest Energy that involved taking methane from a landfill and burning it to create electricity. That one hasn’t developed fully yet, but it did put Vermont Hydroponic Produce on Emero’s radar.

“We had been looking actively to find a cost-effective heat solution, and they contacted us based on something they read based on our connection with Carbon Harvest Energy Project,” Jones says. “Knowing where we were in our quest for heat, we said, ‘Absolutely, we’d love to partner with you.’”

Jones is well-acquainted with biomass as a source of energy, as his Quebec greenhouse is heated by its own biomass generator. Partnering with a power plant to take advantage of its waste heat had occurred to him before, but he could never find a way to make the process cost-efficient. He needed to be part of the process from the ground up, when blueprints were still being drafted.

“The problem with a project like this is there are a lot of power plants out there that give off waste heat, but getting it into a greenhouse is a huge mess. We’ve looked into re-engineering other heat-producing plants, but piping the heat that is needed into the greenhouse after the power plant has been built is not feasible.”

From its inception, the Fair Haven project was looking for an agriculture component in the form of a greenhouse.

Jones says the way the heat site is formatted is actually perfect for a two-stage, five-acre greenhouse to get the maximum benefit of the waste heat from the power plant.
 

“For us, it’s all about the heat,” Jones says. “We need heat to compete. Having our greenhouses built into the design of this power plant is really the only way we could do it.”

The expansion plan
Jones is also thinking creatively to solve another common grower problem: how to get local produce from small growers into major supermarkets. To that end, the final part of the energy center project is the creation of a centralized produce distribution hub for regional growers that participate in Growers’ Hub (www.growershub.com), a web-based ordering site that facilitates large chain stores to order produce from small regional growers.

“Heat is a huge cost, but logistics and transportation are another huge cost for any regional grower,” Jones says. “I feel that we’ve got the heat thing licked by positioning our greenhouses next to an energy plant, but putting that Growers’ Hub system live and inviting other growers to drop their product off at that site and take the benefit of getting their product into more stores is a win-win for everyone.”

Jones developed Growers’ Hub because buyers for Price Chopper, a Schenectady, N.Y.-based regional supermarket chain, wanted more locally grown tomatoes in their stores, but it was too expensive for Vermont Hydroponic to expand to meet the demand.

“We were driving our tomatoes to their stores in vans and trucks and for us to expand, we’d have to buy more trucks and hire more drivers — plus with fuel costs through the roof, it was a loss for us,” Jones says.

The distribution hub at the proposed energy center would be a centralized location for the growers in Vermont and northern New York to drop off their produce for the supermarket chains to pick up and get it out to all their stores. Jones says this would eliminate hundreds of growers driving to different stores with different pricing and help those growers become bigger, creating more jobs. He sees this becoming a model for small growers to provide supermarkets with fresh, regional food without going broke.

“It’s a food sovereignty thing that makes sense,” Jones says. “Their trucks are on the road already. They are going back to the stores empty. You’re better off getting your produce on those trucks than any other way. If we can fill those empty trucks with regional food to get back to the stores, it’s a win-win for the environment, grower, retailer and the customer.”

The 1,500-square-foot greenhouse at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital is used to grow organic fruits and vegetables for patients and visitors.

The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates once said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” And one hospital in the United States is doing exactly that. The Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital in West Bloomfield, Mich., built a state-of-the-art greenhouse that is hydroponically producing organic fruits and vegetables to serve both patients and visitors.

“It’s all part of [Henry Ford West Bloomfield CEO and President] Gerard [van Grinsven]’s vision,” says Michelle Lutz, the hospital’s resident farmer. “He has a very unique perception on healthcare, and wellness is a big factor of that.

“Right from the beginning, he just wanted to change the food culture here in the hospital, and he really believes that food is medicine, food is healing, and having a greenhouse was always part of that vision,” Lutz adds.

The $1 million complex, which includes a 1,500-square-foot education center, was funded by an anonymous donor and is projected to reduce food cost for the 160-acre hospital campus by more than $20,000 a year, according to a press release from the hospital. The greenhouse officially opened on Sept. 15, 2012.

A former co-owner of the organic vegetable Maple Creek Farm in Yale, Mich., Lutz first began working with the hospital when Maple Creek Farm became a source for the hospital’s food supply.

“The hospital kind of put a callout in the area that they were looking for local growers that use sustainable practices, or organic if possible, and they wanted to access fresh, healthy food for the hospital,” Lutz says.

Van Grinsven then visited the farm and brought along a team of people, which included lawyers and nutritionists.

“I thought it was great because if you’re proud of your work, then you want to show it,” she says. “You want people to come and see it, so that way they can kind of share the same passion you have for it.”

Keeping it clean
It’s a passion Lutz has carried over into her new role, where she grows a variety of produce in the 1,500-square-foot greenhouse. Hydroponics are used to grow the food, a decision that was made before Lutz was brought onto the project.

“There were initially some concerns with some of the infectious disease staff here,” she says. “They worried about soil and disease and that type of thing, and having dirt in the hospital. So when they decided to do the greenhouse hydroponically, that really put their fears to rest.”

Lutz says she’s had to change her thinking that “everything great comes from the soil,” but she now understands the appeal of hydroponics.

Top: The Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital hydroponic greenhouse. Bottom: The $1 million complex, which includes a 1,500-square-foot education center, was funded anonymously and is projected to reduce food cost at the hospital by more than $20,000 a year.

“The hydroponic growing system has really lent to accelerated production, and we have so much crop growing in there that I don’t think we would’ve been able to achieve that level of diversity in the amount of crop that we’re growing,” she says. Since she planted seeds last June, Lutz has seen lettuce finish in 30 days, rosemary in 65 days, thyme in 45 days and cherry tomatoes in 80 days.

Aside from production time, there are other benefits to hydroponics. The layout of the greenhouse makes it easier for visitors to move around, including group tours and patients in wheelchairs. And because the systems can be dissembled, Lutz says is able to place a NFT (nutrient film technique) channel on a table that’s suitable for kids to help her plant.

Confronting challenges
As with any growing technique, Lutz has faced challenges, particularly with growing organically. She says she has struggled to find products that are OMRI-listed. But the benefits of organic production outweigh the difficulties.

“Because we have such high visitation in the greenhouse, we really did not want to be using any chemical in there that would interfere in that practice,” Lutz says. “I love that moment where [visitors] just kind of take a deep breath in and they say to me, ‘Oh, I just love this smell.’ So I like that they can smell food and not chemicals, that’s very important to me.”

While there were several reasons the hospital decided the greenhouse should be organic, the health and wellness factor of it really fits into its mission.

“It’s my opinion, my belief that there is a correlation in what’s being used in our food and the health implications that it has, so for me to be able to share that with people, how you can grow food without the use of toxic chemicals, that was really important,” Lutz says.

More than produce
Aside from serving the hospital fresh, organic food, the complex is heavily focused on serving the community both educationally and therapeutically. As such, it has started working with a school that had its own garden but was facing some challenges.

“One thing that’s kind of a setback in Michigan, we have most of our growing done when our kids are out of school,” Lutz says. But because of hydroponics, gardening can occur any time of year.

Resident Farmer Michelle Lutz tends to organic lettuce crops at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital’s hydroponic greenhouse.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Department donated confiscated hydroponic equipment, and a local restaurant not only had its chef come in to do cooking demonstrations and training; it also held a fundraising dinner to raise money for the rest of the needed equipment.

Onsite, the complex hosts school field trips, using the greenhouse and the demonstration kitchen to help children learn more about nutrition, which can help prevent obesity. It also provides visitors and patients the opportunity for garden therapy, which Lutz says she’s still in the process of working on.

“I’ve had patients that have been dealing with bouts of depression come out and just spend time in the greenhouse,” she says. “Being around living plants, just that alone is really therapeutic. And then just using the food as an opportunity to educate people … there are foods that you can eat that will make you feel better, so that is therapy in itself.”

Instilling inspiration
The influence the greenhouse complex has had goes well beyond the hospital and its local community. “We’ve had people from all over the world reach out to us because they hear about this project,” Lutz says. “I’ve heard of other hospitals out there that [say], ‘We want to do this,’ like nursing homes or veteran habilitation centers, so it’s really nice to see that this story is inspiring other potential projects.”

It also provides the opportunity for growers to step up and see where they can contribute to health organizations or schools, or any place they’d like to see local food incorporated, and start a business relationship with them.

“The opportunities are really out there, you just have to be open to them,” Lutz says.

Lutz encourages growers to make the first step in finding the opportunities.

“We have a really good, quality product out there and so we can’t be shy about telling people why they should choose local food,” she says.

Lutz stresses that transparency and honesty are the keys to making a business relationship like this work.

“As a small grower, you shouldn’t be shy about trying new markets, but you also need to be honest with yourself and honest with the potential buyer if you have any limitations,” she says. “I always tell people, ‘Use what your strong points are while you work on your weaknesses.’ But you’ve got to start the discussion. You don’t know what’s possible until you do it.”

Lutz believes growers should invite potential and current buyers to their operations to show them how they produce the food. She says when the hospital first came to visit Maple Creek Farm, the farm wanted to make sure the hospital felt comfortable with the way they handled food, so they showed them all of the equipment, the cleanliness, how the employees were trained, and so on.

For some growers, the opportunity may not be about providing food; it may be about just reaching out to the community.

“In any line of business, if you’re proud of your work, you want to open up your doors and extend it to people,” she says. “How many kids have had the opportunity to go into a greenhouse? Not that many. Sometimes just that positive experience alone can really make a difference.

“I was always a person who marketed directly to the consumer, so I did a lot of that and just did my time in the community, making sure people knew that that’s what we were there for,” Lutz adds. “We were there to share what it was that we had going on. And now I’m lucky enough to be employed by a healthcare system that also feels the same way.”

Photos courtesy of Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital

Think about the current growth media you’re using. It takes about 10 days until seeds are ready for transplant, right? What if you could shave three days off that process?

There’s a new seed propagation medium available from OASIS Grower Solutions that enables growers to do just that, enhancing root development and shoot growth — and ultimately, your hydroponics operation.

“Young plants in any greenhouse, whether it’s the vegetable industry or flower industry, are critical,” says John Bonner, co-owner of Burton, Ohio, Great Lakes Growers. “If you don’t germinate things correctly, you end up with poor plants. So starting out with good inputs is critical to end up with consistent, good-quality products.”

That is why Bonner upgraded to OASIS’s new Horticubes XL product. In addition to faster produce growth — particularly important since many herbs and vegetables are short-term crops — Bonner says it has had the advantage of helping his operation better utilize space.

“If you can produce more plants out of the same square footage, it gives you a competitive advantage from a cost standpoint,” he says. “Maybe you can sell things at a better price. Or if you’re not in growth mode where you’re trying to expand your market share, you can maintain the same price at lower costs and improve your margin. So it either gives you a better advantage for pricing at the end of the day, or it can result in improved margins — both are good decisions to be thinking about.”

How it works
The new foam medium promotes faster growth through a modified cell structure and unique chemistry.

“The cell structure has a different density so the roots get minimal obstruction and can easily penetrate through the foam,” says Vijay Rapaka, manager of grower research at Smithers-Oasis, parent company to OASIS Growers.

The innovative drainage properties in the fine-cell design ensure uniform distribution of water and nutrients so roots have ready access. This also promotes branching of the secondary roots, Rapaka says.

“As a result of the faster root growth, you will also see superior shoot growth,” he explains. “And consistent root systems also ensure easier transplanting as well as healthier plants.”

Ease of use
Another benefit of OASIS Grower’s new seed propagation medium is that it’s easy to use.

When you remove the product sheets from the carton and separate the individual foam cubes, the lack of abrasive fibers eliminates the need for gloves. What’s more, razor cuts on the top and bottom of the cubes ensure easy, clean separation from the full sheets, according to OASIS literature. These sheets then fit into industry-standard 1020 carry trays and can be used with with both overhead and sub-irrigation systems.

“I would say is it easier than ever to use, but you’ve also got more options,” Bonner says. “(OASIS) has come out with some different configurations and modifications to their product that gave us more options than we even had six months ago. There are a lot more options available with pairing the media with the specific plant. Different seeds will benefit from different configurations and different structures of materials.”

Customization includes the option to buy sheets at different foam concentrations, with either single-seed or multi-seed holes and either top or bottom grooving.

See the results
OASIS Grower’s new seed propagation medium is an improvement over the company’s former foam cube product, with root growth and top growth of seedlings boosted by up to 35 percent, OASIS product literature states.

In a study comparing the two products, the company found the following:

Days 1 and 2: The seed in the former foam product is still in radical emergence with root penetration at 7 percent, while the seed in the newer foam medium is already showing hypocotyl elongation with root penetration at 15 percent.

Days 3 and 4: Leaves are just emerging from the older medium, with root penetration at 22 percent. The plantlet growing in the new foam product, however, shows expansion of cotyledonous and initial root growth with penetration already at 50 percent.

Day 5: The seedling in the original foam medium is still in cotyledonous leaf expansion with root penetration at 28 percent, while the seedling in the new growth medium is becoming established within the foam with root penetration at 72 percent.

Day 6: There’s marginal root growth in the former foam product, with penetration at 41 percent. Faster root growth is occurring in the newer medium, with penetration at 93 percent.

Day 7: Slight lateral roots are emerging from the older foam product, with very shallow root growth reaching 52 percent penetration. A strong lateral root has developed in the newer medium, with root penetration at 100 percent through the bottom of the foam.

Day 8: The seedling growing in the older OASIS foam cube shows true leaves, reaching 66 percent root penetration, while the seedling in the newer foam cube has increased root biomass and pushed through the cube bottom at 111 percent root penetration.

Day 9: At 85 percent, the tap roots of the seedling in the older foam still have not penetrated the foam cube. The seedling in the newer product continues to become more developed, with 118 percent root penetration.

Day 10: The seedling in the original medium has reached 100 percent root penetration, while that in the new foam cube has reached 129 percent root penetration and looks two to three days ahead of the other one in shoot and root growth.

Photos courtesy of Oasis Grower Solutions

Safe for edibles
Other studies of this growing medium show it to be completely safe for growing edible crops. They’ve found no pathogenic bacteria associated with foodborne illnesses, no mutagenic properties, and no soluble organic compounds that could potentially affect plants. 

“It is safe, and I think it’s the cleanest form,” Bonner says of hydroponics growing. “I think it’s cleaner than growing in dirt. When we’re shipping product and we’re packaging for either grocery stores or the food industry or whatever, it’s a very clean package. It doesn’t break apart. It runs well in our systems, too, meaning it doesn’t clog up filters and stuff like that.

“The benefits of space utilization and the speed of growing the same quality of plant a couple days quicker — that is a big deal,” Bonner says of using the new growing medium in his hydroponics operation. “The bottom line: They (OASIS) help us do a better job at what we do anyway.”

Jessica Hanna is a Cleveland-based freelance writer and frequent contributor to Produce Grower.