7 million cubic meters of gas savings per year!
Willy Nijssen
Biology Specialist
My favorite is the Umami troscherry. It's a challenging variety to get everything right. And also the tastiest!
Energy and environment
Our impact
The Dutch greenhouse horticulture sector is already a leader in sustainability compared to greenhouse horticulture elsewhere in the world. That said, we must continue our efforts to further reduce our footprint.
We believe that fossil-free cultivation can be achieved at all our production sites in the next 10 years.
0
0
MWh of biomass heat consumed in 2024
Energy usage
Our vision
In order to be able to meet the demand for tomatoes all year round, we heat and light our greenhouses. This is now done with natural gas. Large engines convert natural gas into heat, electricity and CO₂. Three valuable products in the cultivation of tomatoes. Our natural gas consumption in this setup is over 17 million m3 of gas per year. Our goal is to bring this to 0.
Meet Nick
A green hero
My name is Nick Greijmans. I live in Someren, married and father of two young children. I like figures, analysis and entrepreneurship. As such, I fulfill the role of Financial Manager at Wim Peters Nurseries and I am involved in shaping our vision of the future. This is a vision with specific attention to our impact on nature, the environment and the society around us.
My personal interests fit well with this. For example, I grow my own vegetables, I like to eat healthy (and tasty) foods, I go for long bicycle rides, covering many kilometres, and I have a healthy obsession with plants.
Fossil-free
vision
In our fossil-free vision, we are currently leaning toward the idea of using heat pumps to harvest’ the excess heat from our greenhouses in the summer for reuse in the winter. Any remaining heat demand can then be met by aquathermal systems that extract heat from water, and our existing biomass plant, which produces heat by burning regional pruning waste. This state-of-the-art plant has already cut the consumption of natural gas by 7 million cubic metres each year, is 100% certified, and produces emissions that are equivalent to a couple wood stoves in private homes.
For electricity, the move is to green generation or procurement, with an emphasis on wind and solar power, but biogas is also an option. These large projects require balancing many interests. CO₂ will be added sustainably, possibly through capture from the biomass plant or from outdoor air.
SWECO
In view of the complexity and interplay between the elements in this fossil-free vision, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, we engaged SWECO to assist us. In mid-2023, they delivered a roadmap outlining the path to fossil-free cultivation for our company.
Green heroes
Our specialists
