The installation of retractable thermal screens in T&G Fresh’s Geraghty glasshouses in Tūākau, in the Waikato, is the latest milestone on T&G’s journey to reduce carbon emissions across its business.
These screens, which were fully installed in late summer, are a key element of our climate action strategy and efforts to decarbonise our tomato growing operations. If they perform as expected, we hope to see an approximate 29% reduction in annual emissions from our Geraghty covered crops site and an overall 5% reduction in overall company emissions, based on T&G’s 2023 carbon footprint of 27,905.3 tCO2e.
Ben Smith, Head of Growing at T&G Fresh, says the potential benefits of the screens were identified through an energy transition accelerator study T&G did with engineering consultancy Beca and the New Zealand Government’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA).
“We know that our network of four covered crop growing sites in the North Island is one of our largest contributors to T&G’s scope 1 emissions due to their use of natural gas and heating oil to provide optimum growing conditions all year round. To help us investigate and evaluate options to reduce our emissions, we commissioned this study and it identified thermal screens as providing the best carbon savings in the shortest time period,” says Ben.
“With glasshouses having variable heating requirements across winter and summer, the retractable thermal screens will improve the site’s energy efficiency in winter by retaining heat in the glasshouse and improving growing conditions all year round, which means our Tūākau site will use less natural gas each year.”
The retractable screens are made from woven transparent polyester with a fire-retardant coating and sit under the glass panels at the top of the glasshouses, supported by a system of wires. They are controlled by the glasshouse’s climate computer and measuring equipment, which can open and close each compartment independently in response to variables including inside temperature, outside temperature, humidity, wind speed and sunlight.
The screens trap a layer of air between themselves and the glasshouse walls, minimising the amount of warm air that escapes and reducing overall energy consumption. In summer, T&G also hope to be able to use them to retain humidity within the glasshouse.
T&G’s investment in thermal screens at Geraghty was supported by funding from EECA’s Government Investment in Decarbonisation Industry Fund which supported industries to switch from fossil fuels to cleaner renewable energy sources.
