In the series of partner portraits around Fieldlab Hydrogen in Agri, we are visiting Vertify this time, where Peter van den Oudenrijn, Pieter Vlaar and Menno Ketzer are conducting research into the application of hydrogen in greenhouse horticulture. Where are they currently and what challenges are they facing?
1. What kind of company is Vertify?
“Vertify is an agricultural research centre that focuses on practice-oriented research in crops such as arable farming, flower bulbs, tree and fruit cultivation, greenhouse horticulture and field vegetables. We have our own locations in North Holland and Westland and also conduct research at more than a hundred locations spread across the Netherlands and Belgium.”
2. What is your contribution to the Fieldlab Hydrogen in Agri project?
“Our contribution consists of research into the possibilities of a hydrogen-based heat lab in greenhouse horticulture.”
3. Why is this important?
“It is important because greenhouse horticulture in the Netherlands wants to have switched to fossil-free cultivation by 2040. This means that natural gas for heating greenhouses must be replaced by green gas or perhaps hydrogen. In our view, hydrogen offers a great opportunity to heat greenhouses and sell a green product.”
4. What is the biggest challenge?
“What we are mainly facing is that the current legislation and regulations do not offer any room to start such a pilot project. But we also need to take steps in terms of implementation. It is an innovative project, where we are still in the exploratory phase. There are still many unanswered questions and the project design has not yet been fully crystallized.”
5. Where does Vertify currently stand with the research?
“We started with desk research to quickly take steps towards solving bottlenecks. To carry out the research, we recruited an energetic Business Studies student from Inholland Alkmaar in the person of Menno Ketzer, who looks at the assignment with a commercial and innovative perspective.”
