Heating requirement and its costs in greenhouse structures: A case study for Mediterranean region of Turkey

Greenhouse cultivation has a special place in agricultural production. The most distinctive characteristic of the greenhouse cultivation compared to other agricultural production method is that it is carried out under a structure called greenhouse. The air conditioning systems in greenhouse provide a suitable environmental condition for agricultural production. This cultivation method has been widely utilized in many different regions of the world. Southern coast of Turkey is an important greenhouse-growing center in Mediterranean basin. In addition to the traditional greenhouse production, there has been an increase in the number of the modern greenhouse structures that allows climate control in Turkey in recent years. Heating is an important factor in providing favorable climate conditions for greenhouse production that affects directly both quality and cost of the production. Heating of greenhouses is required for an efficient and reliable production especially during winter time in Turkey. Currently, coal is preferred as a fuel in the greenhouse heating because it is more economical in comparison to the other fuels such as diesel, LPG, LNG and natural gas and can be easily supplied. In this study, the heating requirements and their costs for the provinces in the Mediterranean region have been identified by using the meteorological data. The calculations were made for a gothic roofed and coal heated, plastic model greenhouse located in an area with 1 ha representing modern greenhouses of the region. According to the results of calculations, total annual heating requirement was between 3,592,848 and 10,459,688 MJ/ha. The calculated total annual and hourly costs per ha were 65,891.5-151,220.6 $/year and 23.8-34.2 $/h, respectively. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.