GNS Science is undertaking a five-year research program to identify geothermal resourcesfor greenhouse agriculture inNew Zealand.
The five-year program will involve geophysical surveys and numerical modeling to assess geothermal potential, as well as a consideration of the social aspects and policy environment for such projects.
More than 90 percent of the tomatoes, capsicum and cucumbers commercially grown in New Zealand are grown as covered crops in about 310 hectares of greenhouses, mostly in the North Island. The research project can pave the way for the transition of natural gas-based heating in these greenhouses to geothermal.
Geothermal greenhouses are very common and are an established technology in other parts of the world such as Türkiye, Iceland, Kenya and the Netherlands.
In an interview with Radio New Zealand, John Burnell, Geothermal Modeler at GNS Science, discussed details of the research program that aims to identify and characterize geothermal resources for greenhouse agriculture in New Zealand. "There's a clear need to transition from using these fuels, not only for reducing potential climate impact but also because there is a growing consumer demand worldwide for goods produced in a low-carbon fashion," said Burnell.
Aside from the well-known high-temperature geothermal resources in Rotorua and Central North Island, Burnell states that warm water viable for greenhouse heating has been found in other places in New Zealand including Auckland, Canterbury, the West Coast, and Northland. The exact location and extent of these pockets of warm water is not yet known, but this is the information that resistivity surveys will hopefully provide.
“This significant piece of research we’re undertaking over the next few years aims to facilitate a large increase in the use of greenhouses, as well as in other industries,” said Burnell. “It’s quite an extensive and open field.” ●
Geothermal greenhouses are common in Iceland and some other countries.
Vertical Future (VF),a UK-based vertical farming technology and manufacturing specialist, was recently awarded a grant of £1.5 million to deliver the second phase of the Autonomous Agriculture for Space Exploration project.
The initiative will adapt VF controlled-environment-agriculture (CEA) systems to prototype Low Earth Orbit (LEO) growing systems for use in the first commercial space station being constructed by Axiom Space, due in orbit in 2026.
VF designs, manufactures and deploys intelligent autonomous CEA systems globally with several use cases beyond leafy greens such as pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, integration with greenhouses, and research and development for application in outer space.
VF’s proposal was exclusively selected by the UK Space Agency due to its technological expertise and leadership in plant science. The technologies proven in this work will look beyond the initial LEO plans and expand into the 2030s as a key enabler for Mars missions. Following this, the goal is to implement the solutions onto Lunar Gateway, the Lunar surface, and, eventually, the Martian surface.
Through the approaches to farm communication and data management in this project, VF will offer the first fully remotely monitored farm system enabling productivity tracking of systems on Earth, in orbit, and on lunar and Martian bases.
The project was established via an international collaboration supported by the UK Space Agency,
NASA and Australian Space Agency (ASA). It brings together fellow World Economic Forum Innovator Axiom Space, mission operations experts Saber Astronautics as well as research partners from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space (Universities of Adelaide, Western Australia and Cambridge) and iLAuNCH (University of Southern Queensland) with additional support from South Australian Space Industry Centre (SASIC). ●
Vertical Future is developing a CEA facility to be used in future space exploration missions.
Image: Vertical Future
