Carbon impact and responsible design
Reduce your impact, promote biodiversity
Our ambition is to deploy solutions on a large scale that are relevant from both an ecological and economic perspective.
We have succeeded in implementing technologies that radically increase production yields while progressively offsetting the initial investment financially and in terms of carbon debt.
In addition, we also seek to strengthen biodiversity and the resilience of spaces by offering agronomic techniques from organic market gardening.
Regenerating biodiversity with modern techniques
By decentralizing food production at home with sustainable growing techniques, we avoid most of the harmful externalities of conventional agriculture:
• Use of pesticides / herbicides / fungicides (no use of chemical pesticides)
• Water use (reduced by 90% - mainly recycled)
• Land use (vertical techniques using less space with higher yields)
• Use of monoculture (versus 147 different species over the year)
We offer crops and vegetables suited to each season in a semi-open environment that promotes local biodiversity.
The biological core of our solution is made up of organic nitrogen, beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizae, and grows gradually. It is then used inside and outside the greenhouse to build a productive and resilient biological foundation.
After a few months of use, most users report that beneficial insects multiply in their garden (butterflies, ladybirds, bees, worms).
Global warming and carbon debt
Conventional fruit and vegetable production has several environmental impacts, including CO2 emissions.
These emissions are due to the production method, transport and preservation of food products.
As a first approximation, for one kilo of plant matter produced, one kilo of CO2 is emitted (1).
Through ultra-local and ultra-fresh production, our solutions progressively offset their carbon debt over their life cycle (marginal energy consumption, less vehicle travel, less food waste, etc.).
Each year, that means at least 400kg of CO2 saved through production alone.
Water savings of a greenhouse
In Molsheim, we measured the water used in permaculture: for a 22m² greenhouse, it is about 10m³ annually, of which 6m³ comes from rainwater collection tanks.
By comparison, a conventional 100m² garden used for 5 months requires up to 100m³. The estimated amount of water applied is 15 to 20L per m² of garden, with watering ranging from once to 4 times per week depending on the months of operation.
Our results confirm that our aquaponics / bioponics systems consume 90% less water than traditional agriculture (2)(3).
Low-impact and relevant technologies for humanity
We use technology in a measured way.
The use of data is limited and has represented, in total, since the creation of Myfood, less than 5Go on low-carbon servers (4).
In addition, the Sigfox operator connects our greenhouses in an economical and ecological way thanks to transmissions of just a few bytes of data.
This is equivalent to one SMS every 30 minutes.
The use of solar panels is even more relevant in countries where electricity production is highly carbon-intensive (Germany, Luxembourg, etc.).
Choice of materials and life cycle study
The environmental impacts of the greenhouse are assessed from "cradle to grave", i.e. from raw material extraction to final waste management.
The life cycle of the equipment includes the production and transport of greenhouse components, the use of the greenhouse as an agricultural production system, and the treatment of waste resulting from dismantling the infrastructure at end of life.
Boundaries of the life cycle study of the connected greenhouse.
Most of our suppliers are located in Europe, while some electronic components come from North America.
Here is an overview of the geographical location of our main partners:
| Components | Country of manufacture |
|---|---|
| Greenhouse and equipment | Belgium |
| Wooden structure | France |
| Growing tower | France |
| Electronic component | France, Switzerland, USA |
| Tank | Germany |
| Solar panel | Italy |
| Pellet stove | Italy |
| Growing bed | Portugal |
| Agronomic equipment (potting soil, seed) | France |
We prioritize the most durable and robust materials, in line with operation over several decades.
Third-party expert audits and certifications
In 2019, we had an environmental impact study carried out on our Family model (manufacturing, transport, operation, end of life), which covers different aspects.
| Category | Unit | Abbrev. | Characterization |
|---|---|---|---|
| Climate change | kg CO2 eq. | GWP | Radiative forcing integrated over 100 years relative to carbon dioxide |
| Freshwater eutrophication | kg P eq. | FEP | Increase in phosphorus concentration in water |
| Marine eutrophication | kg N eq. | MEP | Increase in nitrogen concentration in water |
| Aquatic ecotoxicity | PAF.m3.day | FET | Fraction of aquatic species potentially affected by toxic effects |
| Acidification | mol H+ eq. | AP | Exceedance of the critical load for terrestrial ecosystems due to the deposition of acidic substances |
| Land use | - | LU | Soil quality index combining biotic production, erosion resistance, mechanical filtration and groundwater recharge |
| Water consumption | m3 | WC | Quantity of water extracted that is no longer available to the watershed |
| Use of mineral resources | kg Sb eq. | MR | Ultimate reserves relative to those of antimony |
| Use of energy resources | MJ | ER | Cumulative lower heating value |
The initial results are satisfactory, with a positive environmental impact over several years of operation.
On the other hand, we were audited by the expert teams of the Solar Impulse Foundation, which recognized our approach as "Efficient and Sustainable".
"Efficient Solution" label received in August 2019
Experts' report on the environmental aspect.
With a mindset of continuous improvement, through our research and development projects we seek ever more innovative avenues to deploy with the Pioneers.
We have partnered with numerous laboratories and specialized schools to keep pushing our vision forward.
Sources
(1). https://www.bilans-ges.ademe.fr/documentation/UPLOAD_DOC_FR/index.htm?repas.htm
(2). https://www.stiga.com/fr/magazine/tendances-et-conseils/arrosage-eau
(3). Aquaponic Food Production System edited by Simon Goddek, Alyssa Joyce, Benz Kotzen, Gavin M. Burnell
(4). https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2020/01/16/microsoft-will-be-carbon-negative-by-2030/
(5). https://www.sigfox.com/en/what-sigfox/technology
(6). https://solarimpulse.com/efficient-solutions/smart-greenhouse
Updated about 4 hours ago