Work

Digital Tomatoes is about how we want to shape the sustainable cities of the future; Cities where cycles of energy, water and industry close much more locally.

1. FOOD PRODUCTION OF THE FUTURE – IN THE CITY

A large part of households’ climate impact comes from the food we eat. Production close to consumers minimizes transport and provides access to freshly harvested and nutritious food. Cultivation can be conducted energy- and water-efficiently, in cities there is enormous access to waste heat and nutrients. Food production and cultivation also become visible in people’s everyday lives, which contributes greatly to attractive urban environments.

2. THE DIGITAL NEEDS OF THE FUTURE – EDGE DATA CENTERS

Digitization in society creates an increased need for server capacity to be able to process and manage data in different ways. Development is fast and new applications are coming, such as self-driving cars, real-time games, 5G, IoT and AI. The applications require higher data speeds and faster response times. Therefore, the data processing needs to be placed close to the user, called Edge Datacenter. 

3. THE ENERGY SYSTEM OF THE FUTURE – WASTE HEAT, SOLAR CELLS & HYDROGEN

The servers in the data center generate waste heat that heats the greenhouses. LED cultivation lighting enables vegetable production all year round. Solar cells on the roof interact with fuel cell technology and store their energy in hydrogen storage.

1 + 2 + 3 = DIGITAL TOMATOES

Digital Tomatoes is a collaborative project between Greenhouse Living and Göteborg Energi. A comprehensive pilot study was produced during the winter and spring of 2020.

Client: Göteborg Energi Gothnet

Status: a Full scale testbed is constructed in backa, hisingen, Göteborg. finished summer 2024. the greenhouse cultivation is supported by residual heat from the next-door data-center and will secure a full year cultivation. the cultivation will be run by urban farmers, odlingsbolaget svalan.

Illustrations: greenhouse living

Links:

Download the complete pilot study here: digitala-tomater.pdf