It is likely that there are sufficient options available on both arable and livestock farms to produce more renewable energy than can be supplied to the grid. A large part of the self-produced energy can be used in our own business operations.
This is apparent from the report 'Producing maximum renewable energy without grid reinforcement', by Wageningen University & Research. Not all possible options will be applied by agricultural entrepreneurs to 1 company. The first option is to use our own energy in business operations and, especially during peak production hours, it makes it possible to install more solar panels than is possible within the existing grid connection. That can generate extra income.
The second option is the maximum use of self-generated renewable energy in business operations, for example by electrifying machines and processes that currently use diesel as fuel. Sit reduces the CO2 emissions of the company (or the chain), resulting in a more sustainable business. For arable farming, this is a concrete objective in the label On the way to Planet Proof. In dairy farming, CO2 emissions per kilogram of milk are also a criterion in the Planet Proof certification and as a KPI in the biodiversity monitor.
The third option is to use energy yourself in business operations. This makes it possible to produce more renewable energy on the farm without increasing the LV/MV grid. This directly saves social costs and saves the grid operators time to first make investments in the grid where it is urgently necessary. In this way, more sustainable energy production can take place at lower social costs. Agricultural companies thus make a triple contribution to the energy transition: more renewable energy production, a contribution to grid stability and the reduction of social costs.
Some of the options are immediately applicable and sometimes also yield money, depending on the company infrastructure and size. For example, small measures such as electrically mixing the manure, pre-cooling and using the residual heat in cooling installations, as well as electrical irrigation.
Electric tow tractors
Other options such as electrification of the machinery are in principle already applicable. But there is not yet sufficient market demand, write the authors of the WUR report. Prototypes of electric tow tractors have already been developed, but they are not yet on the market.
Finally, there are attractive new developments such as the cooling of manure or the production of hydrogen, which can be used as fuel for agricultural machinery. Both these developments are now under research and will be applied in practice on a small scale. Both developments require quite a lot of energy and are therefore suitable for use for grid stability, but also make a significant contribution to making the company more sustainable.
Cooling manure is also mentioned as an option, as it probably contributes to the reduction of ammonia emissions, an important task in the coming years in view of the discussion about the reduction of nitrogen emissions from livestock farming.
Hydrogen production
Hydrogen production offers the possibility to store energy for later use (solving the imbalance in energy use and production in arable farming) and to replace diesel so that the CO2 footprint of arable farming is substantially reduced.
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