About ClimaGreen

The aim of the current multidisciplinary research project is to control and optimize the growing conditions of agricultural products, to minimize the energy consumption and to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions.

The ClimaGreen project follows the installation and testing of a prototype system at the USAMV Bucharest research greenhouse. Therefore, the integration of a heat pump will be demonstrated by proof-of-concept.

The aim of the project is to increase plant productivity by optimizing the environmental conditions in the greenhouse. Furthermore, the project will contribute to increasing sustainability by reducing the energy usage. Ultimately, the accumulated knowledge will be shared among relevant parties: students, scientists, farmers, associations and governmental bodies.

ClimaGreen will contribute towards a more energy efficient and greener operation of greenhouses, in general, while improving overall productivity by increasing the growth of plants and vegetables. An integrated part of the project will be investigating the seasonal storage of thermal energy to allow the use of the summer excess heat in the winter.

The strategic partnership between USAMV and SINTEF is a good opportunity for the exchange of doctoral and master students, to prepare them in an environment of high scientific quality.

ClimaGreen

Energy-efficient climate control of a greenhouse for increased productivity

In Romania, outdoor agricultural production is much more common compared to the use of greenhouses.

For the USAMV greenhouse, the regional climatic conditions represent an impediment in optimizing the environmental factors. This is mainly due to the high temperatures in the summer.

Data collected in the research greenhouse shows inside temperatures of over 65°C at an outside temperature of 35°C. For tomatoes, yield decreseases significantly given these conditions. Controlling the temperature inside the greenhouse is therefore a must for obtaining a high productivity. Other environmental conditions are just as influential, the relative humidity and CO2 concentration being two of the most important ones. With the current greenhouse technology, both are severely suboptimal during the summer.