Science - January 7, 2011
Horticulture can achieve climate goal
Dutch market gardeners use energy much more efficiently today than twenty years ago. Besides saving on gas usage, their CHP installations also produce ten percent of the country's electricity needs, according to research done by LEI.

CHP
Market gardeners use gas to heat their greenhouses. Better insulation and closed greenhouse systems enable them to use much less energy than before. Moreover, they also produce electricity, as well as heat, in their combined heat and power (CHP) installations. These installations together account for ten percent of the country's electricity production, and are much more efficient than the average energy stations in the Netherlands. The CHP installations produce 1.7 megatonnes of CO 2 but they replace electricity from electricity stations which produce 2.2 megatonnes. As such, the horticulture sector has reduced total CO 2 emission in the Netherlands, besides producing more electricity than it uses.
Solar heating
Another objective of the Agroconvenant, i.e. to replace natural gas with sustainable energy in horticulture, however, has still a long way to go before it can be achieved. Solar heating, biofuels, geothermal heating and purchases of sustainable heating in 2009 amounted to only 1.3 percent. The agreement has targeted 4 percent in 2010 and 20 percent in 2020. Market gardeners take advantage of the low tax rates imposed on natural gas. They pay lower energy taxes than Dutch households, just like other energy-intensive sectors.