The plants grow to around 6 metres tall, with the base adjustable to put the plants at the best height for those tending to them. We use artificial lighting in the tomato glasshouses (with the blinds closed to stop the light escaping and polluting the atmosphere) to extend the plants' exposure to daylight. This helps increase their crop yield. The lights may be used from midnight until dawn and for a short while in the morning until natural light levels are considered sufficient.
To grow, each plant needs heat and carbon dioxide. We therefore use a CHP (combined heat and power) system to help with this. Each glasshouse has its own power station, taking natural gas as its raw material which is burnt to power a turbine which then produces electricity. We sell what electricity we don't use back to the National Grid. The by-products of this power generation system are heat and carbon dioxide. Normally these would be released into the atmosphere but the clever part about Thanet Earth is that we need those very by-products as an essential ingredient to grow our crops. We therefore harness the heat and carbon dioxide and pump it into the glasshouses where it's absorbed by the plants.
Once ready, the crops are harvested and put through a packhouse where they're prepared for the supermarket shelves.
