Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Green Energy Ohio Tour 2012: Horticulture Business Relies on Solar, Wind Energy for Year-Round Food Production

OCTOBER 9, 2012 BY ANDREW

Ohio horticulturalist and renewable energy advocate Barry Adler is harnessing solar and wind energy to provide all the heat and electricity he needs to provide a steady supply of herbs, greens, and other vegetables to local restaurants and shops. RainFresh Harvests, near Plain City, Ohio, is one of 170 businesses, homes, schools, parks, and other properties on 2012′s Green Energy Ohio Tour, Columbus Dispatch reports.

The solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and small wind turbine Adler has installed provide enough clean, green renewable heat and power year-round to meet the needs of RainFresh Harvest’s two greenhouses and other buildings. Being off-grid, its sustainable horticulture operations had a stable power supply even when powerful storms cut grid power supplies in the area this summer.

Green Energy Ohio Tour Showcases State’s Robust, Vital Green Energy Sector

Adler has invested some $40,000 to install Rainfresh Harvest’s renewable power and heating systems. Doing so has enabled him to combine “the two things he loves into one business: horticulture and renewable energy,” Columbus Dispatch’s Mark Williams reported. “It’s a good feeling to know I’m not polluting in the process of using energy,” Adler was quoted as saying. “I wanted to create a model to be as sustainable as possible and have the least impact on natural resources.”