Cutting edge greenhouse technology in the Netherlands could mean trouble for Kenya's flower industry.  Kenyans have long considered themselves to have an environmental advantage over Europe. Although they rely heavily on air transport—which leaves a hefty carbon footprint—Kenya's climate allows it to grow its plants outside as opposed to indoors, where temperature and light must be controlled artificially. But a new study from the Hague-based Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI) shows that difference in carbon dioxide emitted in the production of Kenyan and Dutch roses is smaller than previously thought. And the gap is quickly closing as the Netherlands switches to new, non-polluting methods to heat its greenhouses.

The Netherlands horticultural sector aims to become climate neutral by 2020. Its new heating technology, currently under trial, involves capturing energy with solar panels during summer and storing it in water inside permeable rock materials 120 meters under ground.  The warmed water then gets pumped up to the greenhouse during the winter months while cold water is circulated in the summer. The first greenhouse to use this system opened in Holland last year and further trials are going on in the country right now. At a time when the world is increasingly conscious of the carbon footprint left by shipping commercial goods around the globe--most often calculated as "food miles"--such development could make a big difference to buyers.

If flower consumers do start favoring Dutch suppliers, it would deal a huge blow to Kenya, which sees the 700 million it earns in exports of flowers, vegetables and fruit annually as critical to the health of its economy. Kenya is currently the leading flower exporter to the European Union, supplying 38 percent of all imported flowers sold there. LEI claims that previous reports that emissions from Kenyan flowers, including airfreight, were nearly six times lower than Dutch flowers are just wrong—partially because they neglected to take into account variations in flower weight between Kenyan and Dutch varieties. No doubt Kenyan officials will dispute this new study, which has yet to be published in full, and continue to resist the introduction of carbon labeling on all imported flowers.  But everyone will have to agree that what matters most these days is not what you call a rose. It's the carbon it costs to get there.