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The world’s first Plantagon Greenhouse for Urban Agriculture breaks ground in Sweden

A New Type of Greenhouse for Vertical Farming

The Plantagon is an international Centre of Excellence for Urban Agriculture; a demo-plant for Swedish clean-tech and a climate-smart way to use excess heating and CO2 from industries. The potential is tremendous and ambitions high for the new greenhouse being built in Linkoping, Sweden, near the regional energy company, Tekniska Verken. Not least, it will be a new landmark for the people in Linkoping to enjoy.

Recently UN estimated that Earth’s population will increase by 40% and exceed 9 billion by 2050. 80% of the population will live in cities. The urban sprawl of the cities will create logistic as well as food security problems. The response to this challenge is the Plantagon. The Plantagon Greenhouse can be integrated into existing or new infrastructure to increase the efficiency regarding the use of water, waste and energy. The greenhouse will deliver fresh food directly to consumers. The commercial area will be designed and constructed in an equally sustainable way as the greenhouse in terms of energy efficiency, materials and hi-tech solutions.

On February 9th, 2012 representatives from Linkoping city, Plantagon and Tekniska Verken were gathered for a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony. Once the drafting stage is complete, construction of the greenhouse will take an estimated 12-16 months.

“I am immensely proud that Linkoping is the chosen site for the first vertical greenhouse. We will be the first city in the world to test the new technology and the systems involved to develop sustainable agricultural solutions for future cities”, says Paul Lindvall, Mayor of Linkoping.

“We are full of praise for Plantagon’s exciting project launching in Linkoping. Our ambition is to support the project with smart ideas for sustainable energy systems”, says Anders Jonsson, CEO of Tekniska Verken.

“This is a historic day for Plantagon. This ceremony marks the realization of the vision of creating functional sustainable solutions for the growing cities of today and tomorrow, where we can grow food in the cities in a resource-smart way, making use of the special conditions of the city”, says Hans Hassle, CEO of Plantagon.

The Plantagon greenhouse, developed together with Sweco, is designed for vertical agriculture of vegetables in urban areas. In cooperation with several partners, Plantagon plans to develop integrated solutions for energy, excess heat, waste, CO2 and water.

“With this greenhouse we’re developing and fine-tuning the technical systems required for vertical farming in urban areas, together with several well-known Swedish partner companies. We want to gather expertise in the field, and our long-term objective is to create an international Center of Excellence for Urban Agriculture here in Linkoping”, says Hans Hassle.

To learn more visit plantagon.com.

Source: mynewsdesk.com

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February 21st, 2012 by signaltree
Posted in Architectual |
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