Farmers and livestock farmers contribute an increasing share of renewable energy† In addition to supplying various innovative agricultural products, more and more livestock farmers are engaged in collecting sustainable energy.
The horticultural sector is expected to supply more than 15% of energy for households in our country. As a result, more and more people are aware of the fact that our green energy is closely related to the sustainable qualities of the agricultural sector. Sustainability is far from complete. In the coming years, even more opportunities will arise to make our country, and above all the agricultural sector, more sustainable.
Interaction between agricultural sector and energy companies
Energy companies are very happy with the sustainable qualities in the sector. In the future, they expect to obtain more than 25% of sustainable energy from the agricultural sector. That is an impressive percentage, but easily achievable with the arrival of new innovative options for generating energy yourself.
Farmers primarily use the energy to promote their business. They ensure that the energy is divided between the production of flowers, plants, the machines and the feeding of animals. The remaining energy is reflected back to the energy companies, which in turn distribute this energy to third parties. The interaction between the agricultural sector and energy companies has thus been completed.
Greenhouse horticulture: precursor of sustainable energy
The interaction between the agricultural sector and energy companies started with greenhouse horticulture. They were the first to use co-fermentation, combustion or gasification of biomass and saw that solar collectors and heat pumps would be the future.
In the meantime, almost the entire sector has turned around and we see that livestock farmers also provide a large share in the sustainable energy flow. Plans have also been launched to provide nearby homes and centers with sustainable energy. This is still thought on a small scale, so only the places close to the livestock farmers. However, this area is expected to be expanded in the future.
Economically justifiable?
Technically, we are already almost where we want to be. There are sufficient opportunities for an agricultural company to participate in the generation of sustainable energy. However, money will also have to be invested and that is the biggest problem for many livestock farmers. Paying out of pocket is often not possible and we hope for the cooperation of the government.
Money will have to be invested in this process before the results can be astonishingly good. Most agricultural companies already have self-sufficient alternatives. The question is whether every company will be given the opportunity to supply the energy to third parties. This would solve a major problem for the government: the depletion of our current raw materials for generating energy.
At the same time, agricultural companies have not really been able to benefit from the subsidies for sustainable electricity. These are mainly distributed to the larger companies. The expectation is that the sector will become less dependent on fossil raw materials in a few years' time and that it will become self-sufficient. Can this energy also be supplied to third parties? That is the question for now.