BlockHeating uses residual heat from data centers to heat greenhouses

It's actually quite simple. You place a compact data center near a greenhouse, let the heat generated by this data center heat water from room temperature to 50 to 60 degrees and you kill two birds with one stone: the data center is cooled and the greenhouse is heated. With the technology developed by BlockHeating, a 200 kW data center can heat 1 hectare of greenhouse at outdoor daytime temperatures of about 20 degrees. That's good for about 40,000 kg of tomatoes that can be grown per month without the need for additional energy.

BlockHeating's solution fits perfectly with the growing energy consumption of data centers. The IT sector is expected to account for 20 percent of global electricity consumption by 2025. Most of that electricity is converted into heat while that heat is not utilized. The waste heat from data centers can therefore be an important source of heat.

Dataprocessing and heat

BlockHeating is a start-up of Jeroen Burks and Fonger Ypma. Jeroen Burks already managed to combine his knowledge of technology and of business administration with previous start-ups and is doing so again now based on the opportunities he sees with the rise of data centers for AI (Artifical Intelligence). These data centers are processing ever larger amounts of data in ever shorter periods of time to support self-learning programs. A lot of data processing means constant heat generation: ideal for an environment like a greenhouse.
Burks: "We ended up with horticulturalists pretty quickly. The infrastructure of a greenhouse lends itself to this and they have a continuous need for heating. That is not the case with existing residential areas, for example. Moreover, horticulturalists are very innovative, they are really eager to adopt new techniques."

Trial set-up

BlockHeating is really still in the pioneering phase. In 2018, BlockHeating participated in the Brightlands Innovation Factory accelerator program. It led to a pilot setup, which already saved 22,000 cubic meters of gas and 40 tons of CO2. With a LimburgAgrofood Innovation Grant from LIOF, a prototype is now being realized at a yet undisclosed location in North Limburg. From September this year, the pilot can really start and will run until mid-2020. "The second location for a real commercial unit we still have to find. Whether a location is suitable depends on various factors, such as the existing infrastructure. We hope to start at that second location from the end of 2019. For the first trial installation, things actually went very quickly: already during the introductory meeting, this grower responded positively. That makes it very pleasant to work together." If the pilot goes well, BlockHeating could soon grow into a distributed data center of stature. That would be a tremendous CO2 savings when you consider that each unit saves up to 200 tons of CO2 annually compared to heating by gas.

Larger hot water

Burks and Ypma initially had the idea of providing warm air. But that's not what horticulturalists are waiting for, as it soon turned out. Burks: "Warm air is difficult to store and transport, while a greenhouse naturally covers an enormous surface area and the warm air has to go everywhere. So we soon came to the conclusion that we needed to heat the warm air from the processors with water. The water could then heat the greenhouses via the existing pipes. Above all, we had to find a way to bring that water into contact with the hot air. Servers are simply cooled with air and not with water. That means: you have to do something with this by design. That technical solution is our product."

The technology of BlockHeating: cool water is passed through a special radiator to cool the air of the data center. Each processor of a server is water cooled. With that, the water has reached a temperature of 50-60 degrees and then flows back to the gardener.

Ready to go wild

While Burks isn't very secretive about the technology behind BlockHeating. "Yes we are obviously looking at protecting our technology. But I believe that our strength lies even more in the speed with which we can bring this solution to the market than in the technology itself. The Netherlands is a popular country for data centers: we have a moderate climate and a good basic infrastructure. And we have a strong position in horticulture. In short: the ideal market environment to start with this application. Growth abroad is certainly conceivable, especially in other countries with a cooler climate such as Norway and Sweden. And when you think of growth outside horticulture, you have to think of swimming pools, hotels in colder countries or industries that require hot water, such as food manufacturers who pasteurize their products. It's all about proximity to a location that requires constant heat."

Good alternative for both sides

BlockHeating represents a good alternative for both data centers and gardeners. "Many parties do not want to house their data with large parties like Google and Amazon. That's when we become interesting. And for horticulturalists our technology is a good alternative to geothermal energy and biofermentation, because we have minimal impact on the soil or the environment. But we must first prove ourselves, which is why we would like to start this pilot project soon. It will then also become clear whether there are any obstacles to overcome."

Do you think your location is suitable for a pilot with BlockHeating or would you like to know more about the possibilities of BlockHeating for your company? contact us >