Solving the puzzle: Integrating renewable energy technologies on the farm

Irish farmers can become leaders to help Ireland to reach its 2030 targets.

According to Teagasc, the demand for renewable electricity is going to increase and farmers will have a key role to play in that. Picture: Getty

There is a “jigsaw puzzle” of technologies out there that can be hosted and deployed on farms for individual energy consumption needs, says Barry Caslin, Energy and Rural Development Specialist, Teagasc.

There are opportunities for agricultural supply chains, for farmers to sell renewable heat and for biomass trade centres that will create a relationship between the grower and the consumer.

Agriculture feedstocks could be used — whether it’s pulpwood from forestry, straw, purpose-grown energy crops, or grass silage which is one of Ireland’s biggest resources and can be utilised for bio grass and anaerobic digestion.

And with over 80,000 beef farmers in Ireland now —most of whom are not making money in the sector at the moment — renewable energy technologies are paving the way for new income stream opportunities and land use alternatives that could become an attractive measure for them.

But as Mr Caslin adds, “there is no silver bullet” to solve decarbonisation, however the range of technologies available means that through integration in an efficient way, Irish farmers can become leaders in the provision of suitable technologies that will help Ireland to reach its 2030 targets.

“Energy efficiency must be deployed on all farms and this means using more energy-efficient technologies,” said Mr Caslin.

“If you take a dairy farm you are looking at energy monitoring and it’s an area that we need to start taking more seriously because energy prices are going to increase due to carbon taxes and benchmarking energy monitoring in the future will be important as well.

'Irish farmers can become leaders in the provision of suitable technologies that will help Ireland to reach its 2030 targets.'

“Farmers could start comparing - through discussion groups — what their energy use is for various things like milk cooling or water heating on dairy farms or poultry units.

“Other energy-intensive areas include the pig sector and really what this is all about is getting the right energy system for the farm.”

Meanwhile, over 30% of energy costs on a dairy farm are from the milk cooling process.

Basic improvements in water heating systems can help with this; renewable technologies like solar PV for heating water and lighting system improvements — LED lights and high-efficiency motors — could be relevant.

These changes, says Mr Caslin, can reduce energy consumption in the milking process by as much as 50%.

“It’s the same for pig farms; the variants on those farms are anything between 36kWh per pig produced to the more efficient farms 16kWh per pig produced.

“Moving onto poultry farms, building energy management systems could be deployed leading to more technically efficient and monitoring equipment.

“It’s important too, to regularly service boilers; many farmers use gas boilers while others use kerosene boilers and these boilers can become very inefficient if they are not serviced regularly.

Renewable energy

Over the next few years the demand for electricity will increase and agriculture is going to play a key role in the transition.

There will also be external opportunities for farmers in that they can deploy large-scale renewable electricity through wind farms and solar PV farms.

From a heating perspective biomass boilers can be installed - these are most relevant to the pig, poultry and horticulture sectors.

And, there are supports available to farmers that deploy this technology on their farms. In fact, there is a demand for biomass boilers in hospitals and hotels as well.

“Biomass is cheaper than oil - oil and gas prices are going to increase as we go forward,” added Mr Caslin.

“So now is the time for farmers to look at where they are at and where they see energy prices for their business in the future.

“It’s about reducing energy costs and reducing the carbon footprint as well.

“I believe there are going to be carbon challenges within agriculture but if there are mechanisms in place to allow for the trading of carbon at farm level, that will help farmers with the process of reducing the carbon footprint on their individual farms.

“Now is a good time to reflect on energy usage on farmers and explore the options that are there to make savings where possible.

“It will also allow farmers to offset current fossil fuels technologies with renewable technologies.”

Meanwhile, the electricity Ireland consumes is produced by peat, coal, oil and gas; there is a certain amount from wind and that will increase which is positive but there is going to be a massive demand for renewable electricity in the future.

“There is an expectation that by 2030 there will be close to one million electric vehicles operating in Ireland — that is going to lead to an increase in energy consumption across the country,” said Mr Caslin.

“There will also be a greater emphasis on heating homes with renewable technologies.

“There is a focus at the moment on heat pumps which require a lot of electricity to run the compressors.

“There is a support scheme for renewable heat which the Government introduced in 2019 the Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH).

“We have missed our targets on renewable heat for 2020 and so we now have to focus on the 2030 targets.

“So how are we going to ramp up on the energy transition that is going to be required by Ireland to meet its decarbonisation targets?

“This scheme is part of that transition and encourages the deployment of biomass boilers for non-domestic installations.”

And farmers could not only be hosting these technologies on their farms, but they could also supply the fuel.

Forestry farmers, for example, could potentially supply pulpwood into these boilers.

Straw can also be supplied and we could also look at purpose-grown energy crops like willow or short rotation forestry which will afford farmers the opportunity to supply heat for biomass boilers.

“There is a lack of clarity at the moment in relation to the types of technologies that are suited to individual farms,” Mr Caslin added.

“There are options out there and it can be confusing.

“We run the Energy in Agriculture event at Gurteen College every year and that is a collaborative event between Teagasc, Tipperary County Council, Tipperary Energy Agency, Gurteen College, and IFA that aims to showcase the technologies that are available to farmers and help them to make the best decisions for their farm.

“There are also farmers there who have deployed various technologies on their own farms and that helps to inspire and instill confidence in farmers who attend the event.”