Urban Farm DB
Research catalogue
Database research record2013·United States

Evaluating Biogas as an Option to Heat an Urban Greenhouse

Marc Christiansen, Natalie Marie Marquardt, Katie Picchione, Thomas Sullivan

Digital WPI

Urban Farm DB summary

In Worcester, Massachusetts, an urban farmers' group called "The Shop" built a greenhouse for year-round produce, but it became too cold to sustain plant growth during winter. Drawing on the group's composting experience, a project examined using biogas -- methane from anaerobic digestion of organic waste -- to heat the greenhouse, calculating the energy needed to heat the space and the expected energy yield from different available substrates using data from case studies and other sources. The results verified biogas as a viable way to heat the greenhouse at The Shop.