Geothermal heat and special glass coatings will be tested together in a Lincolnshire greenhouse to cut the energy needed to grow British strawberries and tomatoes. The UK currently produces only 15.8% of its own greenhouse crops, relying heavily on imports from countries with cheaper energy. Each hectare of glasshouse consumes 8,000 to 15,000 gigajoules of energy annually, and geothermal heating could reduce that by 66%. Pilkington’s near-infrared reflective glass coatings will also be tested to lower summer cooling loads. If the combination works, the project could make year-round UK crop production economically viable. The Greater Lincolnshire region hosts 155 of the UK’s 680 hectares of glasshouses, and the project estimates that adding 50 hectares of geothermal greenhouses would generate farm-gate revenues exceeding £30 million per year and support more than 250 jobs. The research is applied and commercially driven: NFU Energy will use the data to build a rollout service for growers, while Pilkington gains a validated product for a new market.
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GASTRO aims to transform the UK greenhouse crop production sector, decoupling its energy dependency by exploiting geothermal and spectral cooling technologies. Supported by NFU Energy, the University of Lincoln (UoL), and the NSG Group (Pilkington) this project will showcase the benefits of using geothermal energy and novel Near Infra-Red (NIR) reflective glass coatings to improve greenhouse efficiency, sustainability, and productivity. The UK's greenhouse crop production sector, currently producing only 15.8% of domestic market needs, has significant growth potential. Political and economic support is strong, with the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership (GLLEP) already investing £2.4M of capital funding to build a demonstration geothermal research greenhouse. GASTRO funds the first use of these state-of-art-facilities, quantifies ROIs for highly novel NIR materials and provides primary data for NFU Energy to develop a service model to drive roll-out. The GASTRO project will: 1\. Integrate and test Pilkington's novel NIR glass coatings at UoL's geothermal facility to reduce solar thermal load and enhance summer cooling. 2\. Demonstrate the combined effects of geothermal heating and NIR cooling on strawberry crops, aiming to boost yield and quality. 3\. Develop a geothermal greenhouse design service to support regional technology rollout. The project will use UoL's advanced geothermal glasshouse, featuring 16x250m closed-loop boreholes, to test and validate these innovations. Data collected will be crucial for optimising the technologies and proving their economic and environmental benefits. The GASTRO team includes: * NFU Energy focusing on assessing geothermal system performance and dissemination. * University of Lincoln providing the geothermal glasshouse facility and analytical support. * Pilkington supplying NIR glass coatings. The commercial potential is significant. The Launchpad region hosts 155ha of the 680 ha UK glasshouse estate, compared to \>10,000ha in the Netherlands. Each hectare of glass requires 8,000 to 15,000GJ of energy, potentially reduced by 66% with geothermal energy. Expanding the region's glasshouse crop production area would drive inward investment and create jobs, we estimate 50ha of additional glass generates GVA to support \>250 people and farm gate revenues of \>£30M/annum. GASTRO aims to enhance NFU Energy's services and Pilkington's NIR product offerings, leading to increased revenues, cost savings, and market competitiveness. The validated geothermal and NIR technologies will offer growers a compelling ROI through higher yields, reduced energy costs, and increased climate resilience. In summary, GASTRO is a strategic initiative poised to drive the UK's CEA sector towards greater sustainability and productivity, delivering significant economic and environmental benefits regionally and nationally.
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