Thanet Earth: green and great
The trend towards joint ventures and larger scale operations in greenhouse horticulture is continuing unabated, both throughout the Netherlands and internationally. A good example of this is Thanet Earth.
Thanet Earth is a joint initiative on the part of several Dutch horticultural companies – Rainbow Growers Group, Red Star Trading, A&A Growers and Fresca Group Ltd, the leading supplier of vegetables and fruit in Great Britain. The gigantic new greenhouse complex in Kent (south-east England) has already been dubbed the “Crystal Palace for crops.” The tomatoes, sweet peppers and cucumbers in the complex are grown on Grodan slabs and blocks. 
With almost 25 of the planned 51 hectares already built, Thanet Earth is the largest greenhouse horticultural complex on British soil. The complex is set to become the flagship of sustainable greenhouse horticulture in Great Britain. All the crops at Thanet Earth are grown with the help of advanced, environmentally-friendly technologies. The greenhouses, for example, are heated by combined heat and power (CHP) generators. These supply heat as well as electricity, including the electricity needed to provide lighting for the tomatoes during the winter months. The residual heat and CO2 generated in the process are used to accelerate crop production. The surplus electricity is delivered to the British electricity grid and can supply 50,000 homes in Kent with power. 
The sustainability of the greenhouse farming process at Thanet Earth is already a proven fact. Researchers from the independent consulting firm of Bidwell Agribusiness recently determined that the CO2 emissions resulting from the production of sweet peppers and cucumbers at the complex are particularly low. The carbon footprint of these crops has less of an impact on the environment and climate warming than the footprint of crops grown using other methods. The CO2 emissions from the tomatoes grown without artificial lighting are also low - lower even than for tomatoes grown in the Mediterranean region. The carbon footprint of the tomatoes grown with the help of artificial lighting is similar to that of tomatoes grown in Great Britain without artificial lighting or the use of CHP techniques. Thanet Earth is justly proud of these findings.
In the long term, the complex in Kent will provide work for 550 people and supply 15% of the British market demand for greenhouse vegetables. Thanet Earth's products will be sold not only in Kent but also in supermarkets and shops in other parts of Great Britain.
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