This Valentine’s, share love with top-quality Red Naomi roses while keeping a green conscience

Porta Nova Red Naomi roses have a perfect red color that features a smooth, velvety shade. She is the only red rose with an extremely large flower-head & a subtle scent, so lovely that it will pamper your senses. She has it all: Long stems, outstanding transportability, superb vaselife. They are the ultimate Valentines flowers!

At Porta Nova we strive to grow the best red roses in the world with a minimal impact on the environment.

We believe that many small changes can lead to big results. Constant improvement has enabled us to grow the world’s most beautiful Red Naomi roses.

To ensure a good future for our company and kids, we know we need a healthy Earth too. That’s why, besides improving the quality of our roses, we’re also focused on growing them in a sustainable way. It’s not just about the flowers; it’s about taking care of the planet too.

Over the past 8 years, we’ve invested over 38 million Euros in various techniques to cultivate sustainably. Our goal is to grow Red Naomi roses with the lowest CO2 footprint in the industry. Central to our approach is the option to grow gasless and use of green energy instead!  And since November 2023 we are able to do so 100%.

How did we accomplish that:

The Climator

We began by installing our ‘Climator’ System, which enables us to capture heat from the summer and store it as warm water 100 meters underground. In winter we use this same hot water again to heat our greenhouse in a super-efficient and sustainable way.

Green energy

Five years ago, we invested 5 million euros in a 6 km private power line connecting us to the nearest power station. This allows us to purchase electricity instead of relying on gas for heating and lighting. The added benefit is the flexibility to choose daily between gas and electricity. Additionally, the good news is that we have the option to select 100% green (wind) energy.

LED Lighting

“Our next significant step involved transitioning to LED lighting for more optimal light levels and increased energy savings. We started installing LEDs in 2022, completing the full transition by 2023. With the specialized ‘LED Light’ and the additional heat from the Climators, we now save 40% on both lighting costs and energy consumption.”

Measuring footprint and making honest comparisons and choices.

“So, what roses to buy? Judging from the footprint of roses, this is a complicated question since there are many different ways to look at things. What is best?”

Is it better to buy from us, grown in Holland, close to the end market but from a greenhouse requiring heating and light? Or is it more sustainable to purchase from Africa or Ecuador, where the sun is free, but it means roses must be flown by an airplane or you receiving old roses that take a month by boat? Different angels, different choices.

Flori-PEFCR

Until recently, nobody knew how to make the correct calculation and comparison. That’s why it’s great that the European Union is expected to formalize the process this year by signing the Flori-PEFCR.

Over the past few years, the Flori-PEFCR has been developed, setting a new standard for calculating the environmental impact of a cut flower or potted plant. The final version has now been submitted to the European Commission. (learn more).

“PEFCR” stands for Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules. A set of guidelines for conducting life cycle assessments (LCA) of products.  

HortiFootprint calculator

Not willing to wait, we’ve initiated our calculations using the first version of the “HortiFootprint calculator.” Developed by MPS and LetsGrow.com, this innovative software measures the carbon footprint of horticultural production, aiding growers in making more sustainable choices. Importantly, it is based on the Flori-PEFCR.

With the latest version of the tool available today, Porta Nova has done its calculations. We have compared our footprint development from 2017 to 2022. Direct results from our investments like LED, have been lowering our footprint by 40%. With the choice of buying wind energy over grey energy, we can lower our footprint by +/- 90% further.

Future improvements and full Life Cycle Assessment.

Looking ahead, having the lowest CO2 footprint is fantastic, but there’s more to consider than just CO2. Changes at the European level are slow, and the world isn’t waiting. That’s why this year, we’re diving into a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) across 16 categories. We’re confident we’ll fare well in many areas, given our ongoing efforts.

For example, we don’t use well water; instead, we collect rainwater from our roofs and our neighbours’, creating a local “spa” with our indoor dune to use as the base for feeding our plants. Our fertilizing systems are closed, with 100% reuse of excess water—nothing is spilt in our greenhouses

Furthermore, we aim for 100% biological pest control, utilizing natural enemies to combat insects. We’ve even got a Solar (UVC) cannon patrolling the greenhouse to tackle other pests.

Confident that a full Life Cycle Assessment will reveal areas for further improvement, we are committed to ensuring we continue to grow the world’s best red roses with minimal impact on the environment.

Read all about the techniques we are using:

Discover Porta Nova’s sustainable energy source

Granted, when you enter the Green Room, nature is the last thing that springs to mind. The first thing you notice is the complicated system of pipes that is more likely to make you think of technology and innovation than a sustainable energy source. But still, this space is fully in line with our commitment to a low carbon footprint and the desire to grow without using gas. This is where we get the power for our climators, which naturally heat the nursery in winter and cool it down in summer. To achieve this, we need to descend 100 metres and delve beneath the clay of Waddinxveen. Here the temperature is extremely stable, and hot water stays hot for months while cool water stays cool for equally as long.

Climators and green electricity let us grow without gas

We all know by now that using gas produces carbon emissions that has a direct impact on the environment. Porta Nova wants to grow without using gas, and we are doing this by using climators and green electricity. We can buy in green electricity thanks to the installation of a 6 km private power line.

A hot and cold tide, from 100 metres below ground

For our heating in winter, we store hot water 100 metres below ground. This water is pumped through the heat exchanger in the Green Room. It then releases this heat to the climators, which bring the greenhouse to exactly the right temperature. The cooled water goes back into the ground. In summer this cold water is pumped back up to help the climators blow cool air into the greenhouse. This creates a stable climate that results in roses of a stable quality all year round. 

Lowest carbon footprint per rose

Porta Nova wants to grow without using gas, and it will not compromise on this. Our newest greenhouse is heated and cooled in a sustainable way. We buy in CO² from the port of Rotterdam, where it is available as a residual product, and use it in the greenhouse so our roses grow even better. All with the goal of achieving the lowest carbon footprint per rose.²

Heat exchangers use a separate circuit

The water in the heat exchanger always stays in its own closed circuit and is used solely as an energy carrier. The heated or cooled water is transferred to the Climators in the greenhouse. This means we do not affect the balance of the groundwater.

Enough for ourselves and plenty more besides

Sharing is caring. We harvest more energy than we need, and have plenty of residual heat that could be used to heat a large number of homes in the area. This means that, in addition to growing our quality red roses, we can help our local area become a little greener. 

Porta Nova is ready for growing top-quality Red Naomi roses this coming winter, with 100% FULL LED

In the September 2023, we have finished installing LED lighting to 100%. Porta Nova has researched and developed LED Lighting with various LED light experts for many years, looking for the ultimate “light recipe” for our roses.

With LED light, you can determine exactly which colors/radiation you use. Together we have found the ultimate spectrum for our roses last year. We started with 50% LED light in 2022 and have completed installing 100% FULL LED in all our greenhouses in September 2023.

Traditional “Sont T light” also gives off excess heat which LED does not. In winter, that “leaking” heat was partly heating our greenhouse.

But we are able to “harvest” so much heat in summer with our Climator system, which is stored 100 meters underground. So that we have more than enough sustainable heat to use in winter together with efficient LED Lighting.

Thanks to this special “LED Light” in combination with the heat from the Climators, we can save 40% on lightning costs this winter.

In addition to sustainability and cost aspects, we also expect production and quality to become even more stable because our roses are presented with the perfect light spectrum.

Thanks to our new 100% “LED light” and our unique “Climator System” in which we store heat from the summer underground and use it for heating in the winter, we will be able to grow top-quality roses this winter and for Valentine 2024!