Sep 11, 2017Truly Green Farms gets $3.7M tech investment
The Canadian government on Monday, Sept. 11 announced up to $3.7 million of financing for a project that will pipe waste heat and CO2 to Truly Green Farms, a tomato producer in Chatham, Ontario.
Truly Green Farms has 45 acres of tomato production, with another 45 acres to be built. The company supplying the extra heat and CO2 is Greenfield Global, a large-scale ethanol producer.
“Truly Green has developed an innovative partnership with Greenfield to use waste heat from its ethanol process to boost the production of our greenhouse tomatoes,” said Greg Devries, President Truly Green Farms & Cedarline Greenhouses. “This investment is helping us become the first greenhouse of its kind to be warmed by waste heat. It will also make us one of the most energy-efficient greenhouses in North America.”
The investment is being made through the Canada’s Growing Forward 2 AgriInnovation Program. MP Peter Fragiskatos, who announced the investment, called it “a great example of two Chatham companies working together to improve greenhouse yields, while lowering their environmental footprint.”
“The environmental benefits of ethanol production can extend well beyond the gas tank,” said Greenfield Global President and CEO of Howard Field said. “This investment is helping Greenfield convert what was previously waste heat vented from a heat stack at our ethanol facility in Chatham, into the heat needed to grow greenhouse tomatoes with lower energy use and heating costs.”
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