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CEA Market Characterization Report will provide an overview of how greenhouse and vertical markets use energy

Step one in the three-year, USDA-funded project titled Data-Driven Market Transformation for Sustainable Efficient Controlled Environment Agriculture is underway. RII and ACEEE have begun work on a CEA Market Characterization Report to study the various uses and sources of energy. The following research objectives will guide the effort:

  1. Describe the supply chain, key market actors, barriers to energy efficiency, and the best leverage points for market interventions,
  2. Describe the energy used by producers (including on-site renewable energy, microgrids, and back-up generation),
  3. Describe the energy and non-energy benefits realized through implementation of efficiency projects,
  4. Identify key market baselines to be used in evaluating the impact of the market transformation initiative over time.

RII is drawing from its membership to form a CEA Leadership Committee of its Technical Advisory Council to provide key input on the Report, as well as to provide general oversight for the USDA project. The Report will be published in early summer and will be the basis for a Market Transformation Strategy. RII members will receive insights from the Report.