TY  - EJOU
AU  - 
T1  - Reduction of the Carbon Footprint in Agricultural Greenhouses
T2  - International Journal of Sustainable Agricultural Research

PY  - 2017
VL  - 4
IS  - 1
SN  - 2312-6477

AB  - Climate change in the planet is currently creating many environmental, 
economic and social problems which are probably going to multiply in the
 near future. Reduction of greenhouse gases emitted from fossil fuels 
could result in the mitigation of greenhouse effect and the climate 
change. Agricultural greenhouses consume large amounts of energy mainly 
derived from fossil fuels, for the cultivation of various crops. 
Reduction of their carbon footprint is of primary importance to day. In 
order to investigate the possibilities of reducing their carbon 
footprint, the energy consumption during their operation has been 
estimated and the sustainable energy technologies which could be used 
for substitution of fossil fuels used have been analyzed. It has been 
found that a modern greenhouse located in Mediterranean region with a 
covered area of 1,000 m2 and a total annual energy consumption of 200 
KWh/m2 emits 76,900 kg CO2 per year. Total elimination of their CO2 
emissions could be achieved with the investment of 44,000 € in renewable
 energy technologies, including solid biomass for heating and solar-PV 
for power generation and resulting in lower energy cost during their 
operation. The payback time of the abovementioned investments has been 
estimated at 4.84 years.
KW  - Agricultural greenhouses
KW  - Carbon footprint
KW  - CO2 emissions
KW  - Energy consumption
KW  - Energy saving
KW  - Renewable energy.
DO  - 10.18488/journal.70/2017.4.1/70.1.1.8