WarmCO2 Delivers Industrial Waste Energy and Process by-Products as Sustainable Resources to Serve Greenhouse Horticultural Complex

WarmCO2 Delivers Industrial Waste Energy and Process by-Products as Sustainable Resources to Serve Greenhouse Horticultural Complex
WarmCO2 is set to become a by-word for sustainable, cost effective and energy efficient solutions for Dutch greenhouse horticulture. In the Netherlands, greenhouse horticulture is the most intensive form of crop production and is of major economic importance to communities and to the country as a whole.
WarmCO2 delivers industrial waste energy and process by-products as sustainable resources to serve greenhouse horticultural complex
However, the industry’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels for greenhouse heating presents both a cost and a CO2 emissions reduction challenge for growers. At Terneuzen, in the southern province of Zeeland, WarmCO2 is helping to address these issues with an eco-friendly ‘smart link’ solution that can be sustained over the long-term.
WarmCO2 is a joint venture created in 2008 between the port authority Zeeland Seaports, fertilizer producer Yara Sluiskil and infrastructure specialist Visser & Smit Hanab. WarmCO2 members are part of the unique, environmentally smart, Biopark, an industrial development dedicated to promote sustainability through the recovery and re-use (‘Smart Links’) of the process waste and by-products of nearby industries.
WarmCO2 was established to extend this innovative concept by offering heat and CO2 by-product, recovered from Biopark members’ production processes, to greenhouse horticultural businesses in the polders adjacent to the Biopark. These low cost heat and CO2 will be in particular soon supplied to a major, independent 250ha greenhouse horticultural complex.
Previously these resources would have been dealt with as waste and would have incurred considerable disposal costs for their producers, as well as adding to the burden on the environment. Through WarmCO2 and the application of the Biopark’s smart-link concept, these products are taken out of the waste stream and their retained value is captured for exploitation in other industrial processes.
For the 250ha greenhouse complex, heat is provided by the cooling water from Yara Sluiskil’s heat exchangers, where it has collected heat from the company’s production processes. The amount of energy saved thanks to this Smart Link can be compared to twice the amount of natural gas used by the administrative district of Terneuzen which counts 55,000 inhabitants.
Directly transported by pipelines at an average temperature of 87°C, the contained energy is more than sufficient to provide nursery heating adjustable to suit all conditions. This will enable the growers to reduce or even totally eliminate the use of gasfired boilers and will therefore significantly lower CO2 emissions. This new heating source requires no complex installation and is provided at a lower cost than for oil or natural gas, and is virtually unaffected by energy prices.
WarmCO2 also delivers about 70,000 tons in total per year of pure CO2 to the greenhouse complex. This pure CO2 are obtained from Yara Sluiskil. CO2 is used in the horticultural industry to enrich the greenhouse atmosphere and encourage crop growth. Also supplied directly by dedicated metered pipeline, the CO2 is an intermediate product of Yara’s production of fertilizers. This gas is very clean and is delivered at the same level of purity as commercially available liquid CO2.
Because these resources are recovered from proven industrial processes they are provided at a very attractive tariff. And, generated from well established, stable companies and industries their delivery can be sustained over the long term. Moreover, through its smart-linking, WarmCO2, is breaking new ground in the region and establishing a valuable business model that can be replicated elsewhere to benefit greenhouse horticulture, process industries and the environment.
About Biopark Terneuzen
Established in February 2007, Biopark Terneuzen is a ‘Smart Link’ initiative that represents new thinking in the creation of agro-industrial sustainability. Building on the economic and knowledge transfer advantages obtained through the co-location of associated businesses, Biopark raises the platform to a higher level. Based on smart linking, it promotes and facilitates the exploitation of key synergies between its partner companies. Specifically the potential to exchange and utilise each other’s by-products and waste streams as feedstock or utility supplements for their own processes. This contributes to their productivity, to the conservation of non-renewable resources and the reduction of environmental burden.
The growing list of Biopark Terneuzen’s industrial members includes: Yara Sluiskil, Nedalco, Cargill, EcoService Europe, Heros, ESV Group and Rosendaal Energy.
Source: Biopark Terneuzen