Year-round operations, even in northern climates
where conventional greenhouses now must shut down
due to winter energy costs
Use of only clean, green and recyclable energy.
Energy
efficiency…greatly lowered water consumption; production
of no disposable waste
Proximity to markets; that appeals to the movement
for "localvore" produce and eliminates
the need for expensive cross-country transportation
of produce, thereby reducing the carbon footprint
Ability to produce large quantities of quality
controlled nutraceuticals with increased potency
Ability to produce medicinal plants to service
the growing biomedical industry
Superior quality and consistency of food products
Clean produce, requiring no washing (or triple-wash
as restaurants must do with field grown produce)
Superior taste and consistency
Longer shelf life (less shrinkage)
Carbon footprint reduction and carbon sequestration
Operations are typically placed in rural areas where
employment is needed, leading to strong local support.
Cost/BenefitProjection–
Thebenefits
in energy savings, carbon dioxide reduction, water
consumption,
product quality, waste reduction and consumer benefits
(consistentproduct
quality, cleanlinessand
freshness)
will be constantover
the lifetime of ATGTM project. Benefits
are expected to improve
as operations are
optimized and new technologies (specifically, those
related toillumination
and carbon dioxidecontrol)
are
developed and adopted.Projected
benefits accrued over the first five years of
a typical 20,000 square foot ATG indicate:
energy savings
equivalent to 1.1 million gallons of diesel fuel,
and the reduction ofnearly
10,000 tons ofcarbon
dioxide.