Pig City
Construction on a combined green house and pig farm is expected to begin in Denmark in 2010.
Heat from meat. Tomatoes grown in heat produced by a pig farm on the floor below. The future of farming? (Photo: The Pug Father)
Pig City might sound like the capital of a country in some absurd fantasy novel, but it could actually be the future of farming. The idea is really quite simple. A pig farm produces large amounts of CO2, ammonia and heat, while the production of tomatoes requires large amounts of CO2, ammonia and heat. Why not place one on top of the other? This is exactly what farmer Søren Hansen from Denmark thought when he in 2007 submitted this idea to the competition "Future farms". Pig farm on ground floor, a green house on the first.
The competition was arranged by the Realdania foundation. Realdania was established in 2000 with the objective of initiating and supporting projects that improve the built environment. As one of the winners, Hansen’s project will receive funding and be realized.
Pig benefits
This combined solution will not only save energy and cut CO2 emissions; it will also improve living conditions for both animals and the people living nearby. The pigs will be able to walk freely, and will spend their entire life in one facility. Usual procedure is to move the pigs from facility to facility as the animal grows, causing stress which in turn could affect the quality of the meat. To the people nearby this new farm will spare them the intense smell usually connected to pig farming. The pig farm’s ceiling will suck up the ammonia produced by the pigs and utilize it in the greenhouse’s soil instead.
The farm will be energy-neutral as all waste produced from the pigs will be used to grow tomatoes, while waste from both meat and tomato production will be utilized in an on site bio gas power plant. The power plant will also deliver electricity to the power grid.
Further reading
Future farms (Danish)
Official website (Danish)
