Environmental and economic impacts of solar‐powered integrated greenhouses

Hollingsworth, Joseph A.; Ravishankar, Eshwar; O’Connor, Brendan; Johnson, Jeremiah X.; DeCarolis, Joseph F.

doi:10.1111/jiec.12934

Cited by 55 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…window coverings and greenhouses) 47,48,49,50,51 . Additionally, the photosynthetic portion of such a combined system could be filled by a number of algal and agricultural candidates, from algae grown to produce biofuels and bioproducts, to crops grown for a variety of agricultural and commercial functions, further expanding potential applications for these technologies 52 . Growth of algae is of particular interest due to their high biomass yields, potential for growth using reclaimed water and nonarable land, applications in wastewater remediation, as well as their vast genetic potential for producing various bioproducts 3 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Light Manipulation Using Organic Semiconducting Materials for Enhanced Photosynthesis

et al. 2020

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Photosynthetic microorganisms, such as algae, are sources of bioproducts and pharmaceuticals. As they require only sunlight and carbon dioxide to grow, they have potential for future mitigation of CO2 emissions. However, inefficiencies in the growth of these organisms remains an issue for realizing these emission reductions, primarily in terms of photosynthetic efficiency, photoinhibition, and photolimitation. Here, we show how the use of light filtration through semi-transparent films comprised of organic πconjugated molecules and subsequent organic photovoltaic devices, has the potential to improve the photosynthetic efficiency of algae, and the total power generation of a combined organic photovoltaic/algae system. Experimental data is used to fit a photosynthetic model predicting algal photosynthetic growth given light intensity and light transmission through an organic photovoltaic device. This work demonstrates the feasibility of using a system combining photosynthetic growth with electricity-producing organic photovoltaics and provides a template for exploring other blended applications of these technologies. 3 Main The mass cultivation of photosynthetic microorganisms, collectively referred to herein as "algae" is of interest to agricultural, pharmaceutical, and energy industries. However, challenges including suboptimal photosynthetic efficiency and high operating expenses persist in large scale operations 1,2. This results in a high price point for algae feedstock, which makes algae biomass currently unsuitable for biofuel applications 3,4. The theoretical maximum efficiency of photosynthesis has been estimated between 8-12%, but in practice, photosynthetic efficiency is often much lower, around 1% 5,6,7. In algae, high photosynthetic efficiency is only realized at very low light intensities 8 , but can be improved by using red light, at wavelengths close to those absorbed by reaction-center chlorophyll and accessory light-absorbing pigment molecules 7,9,10,11,12. For photosynthetic applications of algae, the obvious choice for an abundant and sustainable light source is sunlight. However, direct sunlight encompasses the entire spectrum and has high intensity, causing photoinhibition and decreases in photosynthetic efficiency, in some cases completely killing algae cultures 13. Similar to photosynthesis, photoexcitation of the materials in organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs) induces charge separation, which can subsequently be used for conversion of light energy into usable electricity. OPVs have active layers comprised of organic π-conjugated materials (typically polymers or small molecules) that can be tailored to absorb light at desired wavelengths, while remaining transparent in other parts of the spectrum 14,15,16. Here we investigate if OPVs, when used as electricity-producing light filters, improve the feasibility of algae biotechnology. We explore through experiments and modeling, if this combination of technologies increases solar power conversions, leading to the potential for energetic gains ...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, research has targeted the combination of organic semi-transparent filters with greenhouses, growing plants 47,51,52,53 , and single algal strains 10,54 , suggesting that there is interest in combining solar power with the growth of photosynthetic organisms. In agreement with our findings, Michael et al…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Light Manipulation Using Organic Semiconducting Materials for Enhanced Photosynthesis

et al. 2020

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“…The analysis highlights trade‐offs and demonstrates that the regional context matters as the results were highly sensitive to these assumptions. The fourth paper is titled “Environmental and economic impacts of solar‐powered integrated greenhouses” (Hollingsworth, Ravishankar, O'Connor, Johnson, & DeCarolis, ). The authors employ an LCA to analyze six environmental impacts associated with producing greenhouse‐grown tomatoes in a Solar‐Powered Integrated Greenhouse (SPRING) compared to conventional greenhouses with and without an adjacent solar photovoltaic array, across three distinct locations.…”

Section: Assessing Emerging Energy Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bringing a life cycle perspective to emerging technology development

Bergerson

Cucurachi

Seager

2020

J of Industrial Ecology

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Bringing a life cycle perspective to emerging technology development"While the fundamental approach to conducting an LCA of emerging technologies is akin to that of LCA of existing technologies, emerging technologies pose additional challenges. Despite the growing interest in applying LCA at early stages of technology development, there is a lack of systematic guidance for LCA practitioners to evaluate emerging technologies." Current analysis of new technology typically applies economic, environmental, social, and technical performance assessments separately, conducted by individual specialists with little connection between the analyses. For example, engineers often fail to capture the full life cycle (LC) environmental impacts of a technology they are designing, both over its lifetime and with respect to upstream/downstream activities within the supply chain in which the technology will eventually be deployed. The vast majority of life cycle assessments (LCAs) are still conducted on technologies that are much closer to commercialization. This is despite wide recognition that the greatest potential to steer technology toward environmentally preferable outcomes exists at the earliest stages of technology development. The challenge is that this stage also coincides with the least available data, greatest uncertainty, and a paucity of analytic tools for addressing these challenges (Bergerson et al., 2019). While there has been some discussion of methods related to the assessment of emerging technologies, most studies to date are case studies related to specific technology applications, conditions, and regional settings. The spectrum of emerging technologies ranges from products or processes that are innovative and potentially disruptive, to the next generation of commercial products incorporating marginal changes to an incumbent technology (Bergerson et al., 2019). The challenges and opportunities across this spectrum require further discussion within the research community to address questions such as:• When is it useful to conduct an LCA and what questions can it reasonably answer at different stages of development and commercialization?• What aspects of the technology/adoption context need the most careful consideration?• With what other tools or techniques can/should the LCA be coupled?While the fundamental approach to conducting an LCA of emerging technologies is akin to that of LCA of existing technologies, emerging technologies pose additional challenges. Despite the growing interest in applying LCA at early stages of technology development, there is a lack of systematic guidance for LCA practitioners to evaluate emerging technologies. There remains confusion about how LCA can (or should) be used at different stages of technology development and market adoption. The procedures and tools employed to assess emerging technologies still tend to be applied on an ad hoc basis, with no clear guidelines as to what methods are available, applicable, or appropriate. While some authors review and provide recommendation...

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“…[ 17,18 ] Various research groups have proposed a wide range of potential applications of ST‐OSCs in building windows, greenhouses, and mobile wearable devices, as shown in Figure a,b. [ 19–21 ]…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Progress in Semitransparent Organic Solar Cells

2021

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Opaque and semitransparent organic solar cells (ST‐OSCs) have made tremendous progress in recent years. Efficiencies over 18% and 13% have been demonstrated for opaque ST‐OSCs, respectively. OSCs do not contain unfavorable elements such as lead, which makes them available for broader potential applications when compared with other lead‐contained thin‐film solar cells. There has also been tremendous progress in the ST‐OSCs, which makes them extremely appealing for promising emerging applications such as building‐integrated photovoltaics. Herein, a progress review in the field is presented for helping the researchers better understand ST‐OSCs and further realize their potentials. Recent strategies in ST‐OSCs based on three perspectives are summarized, including electrode engineering, active layer engineering, and device engineering. A wide range of applications where ST‐OSCs can be used is discussed and challenges for future developments of ST‐OSCs are pointed out. Finally, the outlook for promising future research directions is presented.

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Environmental and economic impacts of solar‐powered integrated greenhouses

Cited by 55 publications

References 34 publications

Light Manipulation Using Organic Semiconducting Materials for Enhanced Photosynthesis

Light Manipulation Using Organic Semiconducting Materials for Enhanced Photosynthesis

Bringing a life cycle perspective to emerging technology development

Progress in Semitransparent Organic Solar Cells

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