Pre-Feasibility Study - Technical Anlysis Kazakhistan 2018-03-16 total1.2(Fort Merlice)(1)

Preliminary conclusion
Disclaimer:
All the calculations presented in this chapter are based on historical weather data, and represent our best
estimate given the available information. However, it is important to realize that future weather circumstances
can significantly deviate from expectations and can have a substantial impact on the final energy consumption
figures.
Furthermore, it is also important to note that the growing strategy that is selected will also bear a considerable
influence on the total energy consumption of the operation. For the current study, assumptions have been
made regarding the growth strategy of the crop. It is important to realize that if the actual climate strategy
applied is significantly different from these assumptions, then it will also significantly influence the accuracy of
the provided estimates.
5.1.3 Nominal CO 2 requirements
Under ambient levels of CO2 (~350-400 ppm), various plants have been found to re-evolve about 25% of their
captured CO2 through the process of photorespiration, which occurs partly because of the low [CO2] in the air.
Such losses of assimilated CO2 can have important implications for plant productivity. By increasing the [CO2] of
the greenhouse air through CO2 dosing, photorespiratory losses are reduced and both quantum efficiency
(µmol CO2 assimilated/µmol PAR absorbed) and the light-saturated rate of the photosynthetic process are
increased, resulting in increased crop productivity.
In practice, there is a lot of discussion between growers and researchers on how much CO2 is beneficial for the
crop. In this chapter, we give an indication of the potential CO2 consumption for your location based on user
feedback from our customers.
In moderate climates, like the Netherlands, the CO2 usage is on average 40 kg/m 2 . In areas with higher levels of
solar radiation year-round, the CO2 usage is on average 60 kg/m 2 . However, the actual usage is highly
dependent on aspects like the use of the Boiler, the price of liquid CO2, the grower’s own personal decisions, as
well as other factors. One positive aspect of the Ultra-Clima® greenhouse is that its substantial reduction in the
number of roof vents, as well as its ability to recirculate CO2 makes it much more efficient than conventional
greenhouse structures in its use of CO2. For the present analysis, we have considered that only the Boiler will
supply CO2 to the operation, which was calculated at 19,8 kgCO2 m -2 year -1 .
Date: 16 March 2018
Technical Analysis
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