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- Hernandez Velasco, Marco, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Climate control in the production of forest plants : using photovoltaics to power an innovative forestry incubator
- 2015
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Ingår i: Solar Air-Conditioning. - Regensburg, Germany : Ostbayerisches Technologie-Transfer-Institut (Verlag). - 9783943891546 ; , s. 106-111
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Forest ecosystems are currently challenged by fluctuations in the climate and an extreme exploitation of their resources. Forest restoration requires among other things, high amounts of healthy forest seedlings to replace the lost trees. However, the cultivation of these seedlings often involves intensive methods in forest nurseries which consume considerable amounts of energy for lighting, acclimatization and irrigation.The ZEPHYR project, funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), is developing innovative and cost-friendly technologies for the pre-cultivation of forest plants. Devices such as LED growth lights and a new generation of wireless sensors will be integrated into a functional and transportable system for large scale production of forest seedlings. The unit will have a very low impact on the environment, will be independent of the outdoor conditions and will be powered by solar energy. The whole concept represents a breakthrough in forest nursery production for reforestation purposes. It addresses issues such as energy use, water recycling, reduction of fertilizers and avoidance of pesticides.One of the main features of the Zephyr incubator is the fact that the seedlings will be pre-cultivated during the first stage in an isolated environment. A transportable and closed incubator possess several advantages: it provides a better climate control for the production of seedlings and reduces the need for pesticides and fertilizers. The closed-climate allows growing seedlings in places where it would not be possible otherwise (e.g. near deserts). The plants can be produced directly at the place where they are needed avoiding further transport to the reforestation/afforestation site. Additionally, it extends the production time throughout the whole year even during the winter. Moreover, it will allow a certified and standardized production of reforestation materials, with a noticeable increase in the success of the restoration actions.In order to benefit from the advantages of a closed growing environment without having a negative impact on the environment, the incubator will be powered mainly by a solar photovoltaic (PV) system which will be mounted on the roof of the unit. In order to reduce the amount of air conditioning needed, the chamber has been isolated from the rest of the system. The growth protocols have been set to a certain temperature range that allows a more flexible operation of the air conditioning system without compromising the development of the seedlings. Finally, since the LED growth lamps do not produce as much additional heat compared to other lightning sources so there will be further savings.
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| 2. |
- Hernandez Velasco, Marco, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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The Zephyr concept and the energetic autonomy
- 2014
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Ingår i: CAFFEINA 2014.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Currently, forest ecosystems are facing many sustainability problems due to drastic climate changes and extreme exploitation of their resources. Planted forests can contribute to more sustainable practices and help addressing some of these issues. In order to be able to profit from these benefits sustainably, production rates of forest regeneration materials should be higher than the harvesting rates. Nevertheless, intensive production methods often bring along adverse consequences for the environment.At the moment, there exist several options such as greenhouses or plant growth chambers that allow producing forest materials more rapidly. Unfortunately these systems consume considerable high amounts of energy for lighting, acclimatization and irrigation having a negative impact on the environment.The Zephyr project aims to introduce an innovative technology built on pre-cultivation of forest regeneration materials in a zero-impact and cost-friendly production unit. The project will integrate several technologies into a functional and transportable system for large scale production of pre-cultivated forest regeneration materials adapted to transplanting and further growth at forest nurseries.A transportable and closed incubator independent from the outdoor climate provides a better control on the seedlings production. The plants can be produced directly at the place where they are needed avoiding further transportation to the reforestation/afforestation zone. The closed-climate allows seedlings pre-cultivation in places where it would not be possible otherwise (e.g. near deserts). Additionally, it extends the production time throughout the whole year even during the winter. Moreover, it will allow a certified and standardized production of reforestation materials, with a noticeable increasing of the efficiency of the reforestation operations.Specially developed LED growth lamps and wireless sensors will be used to reduce energy consumption and monitor the cultivation process. The main part of the energy will be provided by solar PV-panels, depending from the geographic and climatic area the power system should be able to provide at least one day of autonomy (in central Europe). The energy savings will result in a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; moreover, since the LED lamps do not produce additional warming, there will be further energy saving through the reduction of air conditioning costs.The PV system is designed based on the load specifications of the different subsystems involved for advanced state-of-art pre-cultivation of forest seedlings. It will be further evaluated based on the changes in the load profiles as the growth protocols for different species are defined. The main objectives are to maximize the power/energy flow delivered to the load and to investigate feasible options for an external backup power source whilst considering options to reduce the overall load of the system.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Pamidi, Sreenivaasa R, et al.
(författare)
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Reducing the impact of forest plant production - Design of a stand-alone PV-hybrid system for powering an innovative forestry incubator
- 2014
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Ingår i: 29th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition Proceedings. - 3936338345 ; , s. 3811-3814
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Nowadays, the high demand of forestry products imposes a high pressure on the ecosystems and can derive in biodiversity lost and other ecological problems. Planted forests can contribute to more sustainable practices and help addressing other problems of global concern such as climate change, erosion and desertification. Large scale production of seedling is required to offset the high harvesting rates; however these intensive methods often have a negative impact on the environment. Funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), the ZEPHYR project consortium is developing innovative and cost-friendly technologies for the pre-cultivation of forestry species. These will be integrated into a functional and transportable system for pre-cultivation of seedlings, with zeroimpact on the environment and not affected by outdoor conditions. To achieve this, the incubator will be powered mainly by solar energy. This work aims to present the efforts made to design and optimize the solar photovoltaic (PV) system which will be mounted on the roof of the unit. Especially developed devices such as LED growth lamps and wireless sensors will be used to reduce energy consumption and monitor the cultivation process. A load profile study was conducted and the growth protocols were adapted to perform most of the tasks during daytime to use the energy from the PV panels directly. A battery bank will be designed to provide at least one day of autonomy in central European latitudes. Moreover, the power system will also be capable of connecting to the electricity grid or use a diesel generator as a backup.
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