Environmental Impact of Production Horticulture - Horticulture: Plants for People and Places - page 499

Table 15.2 Examples of EU Directives that have an impact on horticultural production and envi-
ronmental protection. (Source: Anon 2012b )
EU Directive Reference Topic related to Environment

Birds 2009/147/EC The conservation of wild birds

Sustainable Use of Pesticides 2009/128/EC The approval and application

of pesticides

Inland transport of dangerous
goods

2008/68/EC Safe transportation of

pesticides

Integrated Pollution Prevention
and Control

2008/1/EC Integrated Pollution Preven-

tion and Control

Groundwater 2006/118/EC Controlling the pollution of

lakes and rivers

Maximum levels for pesticide
residues

2000/42/EC Establishes MRL on food

crops

Dangerous Preparations 1999/45/EC The classification packaging,

and labeling of pesticides
and hazardous substances

The Drinking Water 98/83/EC Safe drinking water. E.g.

Setting a limit of 1 part
per 10,000 million of any
pesticide in water

Environmental Impact
Assessment

85/337/EEC Impact assessment of

developments

Technologies for Reducing Environmental Impact

One of the major ways horticultural producers reduce their impact on the environ-
ment is through the adoption of technical solutions and the use of best practice.
These are many and varied and too extensive to describe fully, however the follow-
ing are a few examples of how growers have adopted innovative solutions to reduce
the environment risk of their operations.

Greenhouse technologies

As greenhouses are responsible for the largest levels of CO 2 emissions within hor-
ticulture, energy conservation and efficiency must be optimised to reduce current
levels. There are significant financial incentives to promote greenhouse energy re-
duction. One example is a recent report (Anon 2012a ) which found that a 20 %
reduction in energy cost represents an equivalent bottom line benefit of 5 % increase
in sales. The Carbon Trust makes simple recommendations to producers on how to
improve energy efficiency for heating greenhouses, which include for example, the
insulation of boilers, pipes and hot water tanks, the instalment and regular updat-
ing of control systems for heating timers, the use of open external doors only when
necessary, and the use of thermal screens and well-sealed greenhouses to reduce air
leakage. Bergstrand ( 2010 ) found that LED lighting technology within greenhouses