Geothermal contribution to greenhouse heating

Plant freezing and plant-growth inhibition are among the major problems in greenhouse cultivation in the central part of Argentina. The possibility of using a constant temperature underground geothermal water source, which fl ows naturally, has been studied as an economic option to solve these proble ms. A system of heating by means of geothermal energy, with energy-conserva tion measures, was designed and evaluated for typical production greenhouse s in the southern part of Cordoba, Argentina. The results of tests carried out during 3 years are presented. These results are really promising, takin g into account the high benefit/cost relation of the design and the availab ility of similar geothermal resources in many farms of this region. (C) 199 9 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.