Data underlying the publication: The embodied carbon emissions of lettuce production in vertical farming, 
greenhouse horticulture, and open-field farming in the Netherlands.
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Authors: Blom, T., Jenkins, A., Pulselli, R.M., van den Dobbelsteen, A.A.J.F.


Corresponding author
--------------------
Tess Blom 
t.blom@tudelft.nl

Delft University of Technology
Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment
Julianalaan 134
2628 BL Delft
The Netherlands



Dataset description
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This dataset contains the data collected to define the carbon footprint of one kg lettuce (fresh weight) produced
within a running commericial vertical farm in comparison to the carbon footprints of conventional agriculture in the Netherlands.
These include: an average open field farm, an average soil-based Venlo greenhouse that uses only natural light,
and a hydroponic Venlo greenhouse that uses artificial light in addition to natural light [1]. The data on conventional agriculture
are collected from the KWIN databases on open field farming [2] and greenhouse horticulture [3]. Further methods and references 
regarding the data collection process are described in [1] and in the dataset tabs "OF", "GH(s)", "GH(h)" and "VF". Here, OF 
represents the open field farm, GH(s) the soil-based greenhouse, GH(h) the hydroponic greenhouse, and VF the vertical farm.

The carbon footprint includes both life cycle of the crop and that of the farm, from cradle-to-grave. 
All activities included within these life cycles are described in the FIG 03.png (4TU Data) and in [1]. The carbon footprint is
calculated using the activity data of tabs "OF", "GH(s)", "GH(h)" and "VF", and the emissions factors. EF is the emission factor
of the activity in kg CO₂-eq per unit of the activity data, assessed by referring to the IPCC GWP100a characterisation method in 
SimaPro 9.0.0, which is based on the Ecoinvent 3.6 database. Tab ‘EF’ provides an overview of the emissions factor sources used for 
activities within the study. Country-specific emission factors for the Netherlands were used for natural gas and electricity consumption 
to reflect the correct energy mix. By combining the collected activity data with the EFs, the carbon footprints of each farming system 
were calculated within the tabs ‘FIG04’ and ‘FIG05’. These represent the baseline carbon footprint.

Three scenarios were created to improve the comparability of the baseline data as well as present potential carbon savings as a result 
of transitioning to renewable energy, which included: the lost carbon sequestration potential as a result of land-use change (FIG06), 
assuming identical sales packaging for all farming systems (FIG07, FIG08, FIG09), and a transition to renewable energy (FIG10). 
These scenarios, when considered collectively, greatly reduced the disparity between the carbon footprints of the three farming systems 
(FIG11 and FIG12). Electricity use represented the largest share in the carbon fooptrint of both baseline and alternative scenario, therefore, 
the electricity consumption of the VF was compared to that of other VF from literature in the tabs ‘FIG13’ and ‘FIG14’.  

This research project is part of the TTW Perspectief programme “Sky High”, which is supported by AMS Institute, 
Bayer, Bosman van Zaal, Certhon, Fresh Forward, Grodan, Growy, Own Greens/Vitroplus, Priva, Signify, Solynta, 
Unilever, van Bergen Kolpa Architects, and the Dutch Research Council (NWO).


References
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[1]  Blom, T., Jenkins, A., Pulselli, R.M., van den Dobbelsteen, A.A.J.F. 2022. The embodied carbon emissions 
of lettuce production in vertical farming systems, greenhouse horticulture, and open-field farming in the 
Netherlands. J. Clean. Prod. 227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.134443

[2] Schreuder, R., van Leeuwen, M., Spruijt, J.,van der Voort, M., van Asperen, P., Hendriks-Goossens V. 
2009. Kwantitatieve informatie akkerbouw en vollegrondsteelt. Wageningen UR, Lelystad (2009)

[3] Raaphorst, M.G.M, Benninga, J. 2019. Kwantitatieve informatie voor de glastuinbouw: kengetallen voor groenten-,
 snijbloemen-, pot- en perkplanten teelten. Wageningen UR, Wageningen.