Wednesday 24 June 2020

Podcast: British tomato grower’s fruitful relationship with biomass heat

Onsite low carbon energy is supporting the growth of two million kilos of Jolly Tom tomatoes a year at Essex-based Villa Nursery.  AMP Clean Energy has fully funded and developed the wide-ranging energy solution which has cut CO2 by more than 1800 tonnes per year – that is the equivalent of powering 2,272 homes a year.

In this podcast, Michael Gibilaro, Co-founder and owner of Villa Nursery and Mark Tarry, CFO of AMP Clean Energy, explain how, through an energy supply agreement, the nursery benefits from discounted heat and power. The nursery grows Jolly Tom tomatoes for Tesco, as well as British salads and specialty peppers, all under glass.

In addition to cost and carbon benefits, Villa Nursery has become more competitive, providing environmentally friendly British produce to UK consumers. Only 30% of tomatoes sold in our supermarkets are grown in the UK with the rest being imports.

Listen to the full podcast to find out more...