Energy use and development of online energy calculators for the nursery industry

NCEA is commissioned by the nursery industry in Australia to develop online calculators and resources to assist operators to reduce their energy use and greenhouse gas emissions and to determine renewable energy resources that can be integrated into their operations. This paper summarizes the main approaches and some of the results of this project. An online calculator (EnergyCalc) is developed and used in six nursery industry case studies to illustrate the energy assessment process for typical nursery operations to determine energy usage from different operations and practices. An online renewable energy calculator is also developed to provide an indication of potential for solar or wind systems to replace purchased electricity and feed electricity into the grid. The calculator can size the appropriate solar or wind turbine system and provide a simple cost benefit analysis based on available information of expected energy demand, renewable energy to be generated, electricity costs and system capital and operating costs.