Energy demand analysis of a lettuce growing plant factory: A case for Indonesian and Korean regions.

The importance of new agricultural methods is increasing to cope with the effects of climate change and to ensure food security in the future. A plant factory has diverse advantages, including high productivity, good quality, and no climate constraints; however, the high energy cost for maintaining the closed system environment is a major challenge. To reduce energy consumption, the environment control system should be optimized. In this study, the energy demand analysis of a lettuce growing container farm, which is a type of plant factory, was evaluated under two different climate conditions including the Indonesian and Korean regions. For the energy analysis, a container farm energy model was developed by simultaneously considering the crop energy balance. Based on this model, monthly and annual changes in the energy demand are recommended. In the case of a plant factory, dehumidification load accounted for more than 50% of the total energy demand in both regions. By comparing the monthly energy demands between Indonesia and Korea, the pattern revealed remarkable differences depending on the region due to the change in the climate of the two regions. The annual energy demand of Indonesia was found to be 8.9–15.0% higher than that of Korea. The results of this study can be utilized to develop an optimized environmental control system and control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]