HORTEB - Planning program for greenhouse heating by biomass fuels - I: Basics and description of the program

At the Institute for Horticultural and Agricultural Engineering of the Univ ersity of Hannover the planning program HORTEB (,,Horticultural Energy Supp ly with Biomass") was developed (BROKELAND 1998). With this program the ene rgetic use of biomass for heat production can be planned with consideration of complete process engineering chains. For each individual case calculati ons of the heat production costs, the CO2-emissions and the energy balances are made. To determine the break-even point each individual case of biomas s use is compared with the use of fossil fuel oil and natural gas. This inv estigation and the creation of the program were financed by the Federal Min istry for Food, Agriculture and Forestry. A special attention was put on the energy supply for greenhouse heating. In horticulture there is energy-intensive crop and plant production. Because of the limited resources of fossil fuels we must look for alternative fuel sources. In northern countries the use of biomass for heat production has t he greatest importance. In horticulture the heat production by using biofue ls would give an important contribution for environmentelfair plant product ion. The application of the program HORTEB to non-horticultural ranges is also p ossible, because 14 different buildings types (e. g. greenhouses, residenti al building, office building, hospital) are flown into the investigation. This article (part 1) describes the basics, the sequence of the program and the including parameters. Part 2 presents the results of an analysis of th e parameters.