Arctic Greenhouses
Arctic Communities such as Qaqortoq face challenges getting fresh and healthy produce. Community Greenhouses can change that. Help us build our first Community Greenhouse.
About Qaqortoq Community Greenhouse
Communities in Greenland are reliant on imports and must export natural resources for income. We've all seen the geopolitical pressures to mine despite the fact that Greenlanders are opposed to many of these projects. Community-run Greenhouses not only provide for the local communities, but also provide a place to teach and learn, as well as facilitate the growth of a local agricultural industry. This provides people the power to choose the future they want even as the climate changes.
Qaqortoq has been selected because it is the largest town in South Greenland and is already home to an agricultural sector. Due to the latitude and climate conditions, there is a hundred day growing season. Our greenhouse will seek to find techniques to extend this growing season for future greenhouses in South Greenland as well as provide immediate benefit as a community greenhouse and test methods for future greenhouses in the harsher climates further north.
Our year one goals are to assess techniques for extending the growing season in commercially available greenhouses. We will purchase two 15x8m greenhouses providing more than 100 sq. m of growing space. These greenhouses will also be part of a microgrid hub, helping provide electricity to the local community. We will test transparent solar panels on the greenhouse roof as a means of shading the plants from the harsh summer sun while also generating electricity. Night and winter power will be provided by a prototype high speed wind turbine. Growlights and hydropionic equipment will also be included for experimentation and teaching. A small makerspace is also budgeted, allowing for local maintenance and expansion of the greenhouse facilities, including hydropionic systems. Finally a stipend for the Post-Doc is also included in the budget, as it is his labor and travel that make this program possible.
For a full budget, see https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11-qhtX6pJE8erIwyzCf-QteGLK7m7JBeZdpzYTMC7rw/edit?usp=sharing
Learn more about us at https://www.polarisarcticgreenhouses.org/