The Future of Lettuce

How Propane Plays a Role in Revol Greens’ Temple

Lettuce

Greenhouse

By Kimberly Scheberle

It’s August in Texas. If there’s a downside to our state, this would be it. (Unless you’re a fan of high heat.) And while August usually is a painful crescendo, this year it will probably just be the tail end (fingers crossed) to a long hot three-month stretch. This summer has been a douzy. So it won’t surprise you to hear about a high tech way to increase yield in agriculture, which is increasingly at risk with see-sawing climates.

Revol Greens, which opened its first greenhouse in Minnesota in 2017, marries state-of-the-art greenhouses with innovative agricultural practices. The company recently opened a massive lettuce greenhouse on the east side of Temple, Texas. Their greenhouses use 90 percent less water than traditional farming, and they can reliably deliver product 365 days a year.

Jack Walzel, with Tri-Co Propane in Rogers, worked with the site manager from the get-go to ensure the new plant had the power needs it desired. While it was a little serendipitous that the new site could not utilize natural gas, Walzel has been more than able to fulfill the site’s needs.

“It’s been such a pleasure working with the Revol team,” Walzel said. “We have forged a great partnership. That said, it took some creative financing and teamwork to pull all the pieces together. That part was difficult.”

Changing Tides

When Nic Helderman, the man Revol Greens recruited to build/manage the Temple location, came to the states in 1992, most of the produce that came from California, Mexico and Florida were harvested in open fields. But things have largely transitioned over for greenhouse crops. Today, for instance, most tomatoes you find in a grocery store are grown indoors.

Helderman said that crops like lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers are good candidates to be grown in a greenhouse setting because you plant them once and you have a long time that you can harvest. Something like corn, for instance, would not be successful in greenhouses as it requires lots of acreage and is harvested once a year.

“Our customers, the big stores, they want year-round, good quality, same quantity and same yield,” Helderman said. “Big companies like Walmart, Costco and HEB cannot build their business on just getting one product local for one month in a year. We can produce local product year-round with the same quality.”

According to Precedence Research, the global commercial greenhouse market size accounted for $34.8 billion in 2021 and is expected to hit around $78.9 billion by 2030, poised to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.52% from 2022 to 2030.

The Precedence study cited one of the chief market drivers: “Less water and area are needed to produce the same amount of produce when using greenhouse farming, which is one of its key advantages over traditional agricultural practices. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates to meet global food demand, food output must rise by 70% by 2050.”

“Compared to traditional farming, organic farming wastes less water. In general, greenhouse farming uses 95% less water than outside farming for the same amount of crops. Additionally, the development of commercial greenhouses is a result of the shifting weather patterns that affect conventional farming.”

The Temple Location

Helderman has spent a lifetime honing his skills in greenhouses. He grew in the Netherlands, known as the standard-bearer in greenhouse technology, where both of his parents worked in the industry. The country dug deep into high tech greenhouses on the heels of World War II after close to 20,000 citizens died in the

“Dutch hunger winter,” which happened from 1944-1945 during the final months of German occupation. The country, the size of Connecticut, is one of the top five exporters of vegetables in the world and provides much of Western Europe with fresh produce.

Helderman has journeyed around the world working with greenhouses, from the Middle East to Australia to several U.S. states including Arizona, New York and Maine.

He picked Temple to place the greenhouse by looking at a map. He had been tasked with putting it where it was easily accessible to San Antonio, Houston and the Dallas/Fort Worth markets. Temple was the center. “There’s around 20 million people who needed more lettuce, and we wanted to go local,” Helderman said. Temple checked the boxes. He picked a location on the east side of town, which was flat (and muddy).

Revol utilized the team at ARCO/Murray, a design build team that has considerable experience with controlled environment agriculture.

Using Propane

Walzel’s connection to the Revol plant was the result of good old fashioned shoe leather. He stopped by one day to check out what was going on and chat with the site manager, Jason Korenek with ARCO/Murray. Korenek was staying on property in a travel trailer. Initially, it looked like a large propane provider already had the account sewn up.

But Walzel’s conversation on site that day, lending advice despite not having the account, led Korenek to invite him to a meeting with Helderman. It helped that Korenek already knew Walzel as Tri-Co was the only propane provider in the area filling bottles during the pandemic. He was grateful for the propane he needed for the travel trailer.

After that meeting they struck a deal, and Walzel/Tri-Co Propane put in a 30,000-gallon tank, two vaporizers, piping and $30,000 in regulators to make the system work. He additionally installed the guardrails and made sure to walk the process through inspection with the Texas Railroad Commission.

Currently, Revol has the first half of the first planned greenhouse working. The second half of that greenhouse should be opening in the coming months. They have started with 80 employees and have plans to expand to 80 acres. When complete, there will be two more greenhouses and two more 30,000-gallon tanks on site.

The pallets are placed in a tightly controlled room, where sensors keep the humidity, temperature and carbon dioxide levels at the most advantageous level. Higher CO2 hurries germination. The CO2 is recycled from the use of propane in the facility.

The seedlings are brought into the greenhouse to start their journey across the greenhouse. These flats (for loose leaf lettuce) float on a shallow bed of water to the far side of the greenhouse

The liquid propane powered vaporizers heat water in a massive boiler, which heats the greenhouses during the winter months. Chilling towers are used during the hotter summer months to manage the temperature.

“At maximum output, the boiler would burn 247 gallons an hour or 6,000 gallons a day,” Walzel said.

They additionally recycle carbon dioxide that is produced when they heat the water, piping it into the greenhouse to encourage photosynthesis and increase yield on the lettuce. There are 240 CHP units in place for the first phase of the greenhouse.

Opportunities for Marketers

While there might not be a commercial greenhouse in your backyard to target (but be on the lookout), Walzel says that the opportunity to work with Revol only happened because he drove by, stopped and talked with the potential clients. “If I hadn’t stopped, this never would have happened.”

“I encourage all dealers to get out there and hustle,” Walzel said. “There are lots of new things going on that use propane like crematoriums and aluminum smelting plants.”

“You never know until you start a conversation.”

Combined Heat and Power or CHP is an efficient way of using [propane] gas for use in the greenhouse. CHP creates electricity while heating up water. With CO2 as a byproduct, these are three key ingredients for a greenhouse operation. Combined Heat and Power or CHP is also known as cogeneration. As its name indicates, CHP is the process of simultaneously producing electrical energy and thermal energy in one system. Especially in greenhouse horticulture, the advantages of combined heat and power can be significant. Greenhouse crops require a few basic ingredients: light, temperature, carbon dioxide, water and nutrients. This is needed for the process of photosynthesis. Enhancing the photosynthesis can be done by adding more of these ingredients to the greenhouse. Cogeneration can take care of three of these important elements required for photosynthesis.

Courtesy of DutchGreenhouses.com

Revol Green’s Temple greenhouse is the fourth site the company has opened in its quest to provide fresh year-round produce. Here is a little more information about their greenhouses:

Owatonna, Minnesota

• First Revol Greens greenhouse.

• 10 acres of production equivalent to 300 acres of outdoor farmed lettuce.

• 190 million gallons saved vs. outdoor grown lettuces.

• Roof rainwater and snowmelt collection provides the majority of plant water needs.

Tehachapi, California

• 16 acres of production equivalent to 480 acres of outdoor farmed lettuce.

• Able to reach 49 million consumers within 24 hours of harvest.

• 304 million gallons vs. outdoor grown lettuces.

• Over 90% of light needs for growing operation are provided by the sun.

Athens, Georgia

• 76 million gallons saved vs. outdoor grown lettuces.

• Founded in 2000 as BJ’s Produce and selling under the Living Fresh brand, the Athens greenhouse joined the Revol Greens family in 2022.

• Nearly 4 acres and serves as a gateway to the southeast.

Temple, Texas

• 20 acres upon completion equivalent to 600 acres of outdoor farmed lettuces.

• 380 million gallons saved vs. outdoor grown lettuces.

• This is the company’s most technologically advanced greenhouse yet and will leverage even more efficient climate controls.

• The greenhouse will capture 100% of its water needs from the greenhouse roof and retention ponds.

Many thanks to Revol Greens for hosting TPGA members for a tour. (L to R) TPGA’s Jackie Mason, TPGA Executive Director Bill Van Hoy, Tri-Co's Trent Collins, Tri-Co's Debra Michalka, Revol’s Temple plant manager Nic Helderman and Tri-Co owner Jack Walzel.

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