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Renewable energy in agriculture A farmer’s guide to technology and feasibility Renewable energy in agriculture Authors: Gerry Flores, David Eyre, David Hoffmann © NSW Farmers Association and the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage All rights reserved ISBN: 978-0-9942464-0-0 Citation information: Flores G, Eyre D N, Hoffmann D, Renewable energy in agriculture: A farmer’s guide to technology and feasibility NSW Farmers, 2015 First edition, May 2015. Acknowledgements This publication has been produced by NSW Farmers with assistance from the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. Authors: Gerry Flores, David Eyre, David Hoffmann © NSW Farmers Association and the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage All rights reserved ISBN: 978-0-9942464-0-0 Citation information: Flores G, Eyre D N, Hoffmann D, Renewable energy in agriculture: A farmer’s guide to technology and feasibility, NSW Farmers, 2015 Copyright and disclaimer This document: • Is copyright to NSW Farmers Association and the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage • Is only intended for the purpose of assisting farmers and those interested in on- farm energy generation (and is not intended for any other purpose). While all care has been taken to ensure this publication is free from omission and error, no responsibility can be taken for the use of this information in the design or installation of any solar electric system. Cover photo: Solar PV is widely adopted in First Edition, May 2015. Australia by farmers who operate intensive facilities. A farmer’s guide to technology and feasibility 1 Contents 2. Foreword 3. About this guide 4. Overview 6. Solar Photovoltaics (PV) 14. Wind power 20. Solar hot water 24. Bioenergy 28. Ground source heat pumps 32. Financial assessment 40. Farm energy planning 42. Looking ahead 45. Bibliography Renewable energy in agriculture Foreword One way to reduce this exposure is to make some or all of our own energy. At NSW Farmers we believe that energy security has become a first order Farmers are well placed to generate energy, having an abundance of land to install infrastructure and access business risk for agriculture. Simply to sunshine, wind and waste material, all of which are put, we must do everything we can to potential sources of cheap and reliable power. Further, increase energy efficiency and to reduce the technology is maturing rapidly with falling prices exposure to projected increases in the and improved performance making return on investment cost of diesel, gas and electricity. more attractive each year. Pretty well every farmer I speak to is curious about renewable energy and many of our members have found great success across the various technologies including solar, wind and bioenergy. An outstanding example is the Beveridge’s pig farm, near Young, where they generate all of their farm electricity from effluent and also sell excess power to the network. Every farm presents different opportunities for energy generation. This guide sets out the key options and provides examples of what is possible with today’s Fiona Simpson technology. While it cannot take you all the way President down the road to energy security, we hope that you NSW Farmers find it to be a useful companion on a fascinating and rewarding journey. A farmer’s guide to technology and feasibility 3 About this guide Intended as a general resource for farmers, it provides basic technical explanation and description of the most This guide has been produced by common types of enterprise-scale energy generation NSW Farmers with the assistance currently available in Australia. of the NSW Office of Environment Some of these technologies are more mature than and Heritage as part of a program to others and some are more applicable for certain help farmers achieve faster uptake properties and farm types. They also vary widely in scale of renewable energy and increased and cost, from small free-standing systems to major, energy security. grid connected infrastructure, potentially jointly owned and operated by communities. Along with technology description, we discuss general design and financial considerations and provide some illustrative case studies. The best solutions for on farm energy generation tend to be tailored to meet the needs of the farm rather than“off the shelf”. Every farm will benefit from a customised design approach matching production strategy and other site-specific variables. While this guide highlights common issues and situations, we recommend seeking expert advice before locking in to a particular solution. Renewable energy in agriculture Overview Recent advances in renewable energy technology have reduced costs, increased reliability and placed energy generation within the reach of most farms. Increasingly, Australian farmers are switching from diesel, natural gas, LPG and electricity to renewable energy sources in core farming applications. This is both as a hedge against future energy price increases Renewable and to mitigate the risk of electricity supply disruptions and energy power quality issues experienced at fringe-of-grid. The degree of adoption of renewable energy varies widely across sectors. Adoption is highest in intensive, facility based sectors. An estimated 40 percent of dairy farms have already Energy efciency installed some form of renewable energy, such as heat pumps or solar thermal water heating, often with a booster (Clean Energy Finance Corporation 2014). Energy conservation and time of use As a generalisation, large scale adoption of renewable management technology (fully or largely replacing fossil-fuel based energy) is lowest for farms that have highly variable energy demand since this can impact favourable return on investment. Energy analysis Small scale adoption is occurring across all sectors, with various solar technologies being most popular. An important emerging area is the recycling of agricultural Figure 1: The energy management pyramid. The four steps waste streams to produce heat and power. For example: towards energy management are (1) Energy analysis, (2) Energy conservation/time of use management, (3) Energy efficiency, and • Biomass power generation: Darling Downs Fresh Eggs (4) Renewable energy.1 Energy analysis provides the foundation is installing an anaerobic digester and generators to meet for effective investment in subsequent steps. 100% of the company’s non-peak power requirements using chicken manure and other waste (Clean Energy Finance Corporation 2014). • Biogas heat generation: The pork industry has been at the forefront of biogas capture and heat generation for some time, with farmers both generating energy and claiming credits for methane destruction. Waste to energy schemes have the added benefit of reducing waste management cost and assisting farmers to meet environmental compliance standards. A farmer’s guide to technology and feasibility Overview 5 Many farmers have already invested in solar PV, incentivised by feed-in tariff schemes such as the NSW Solar Bonus Scheme Benefits of renewable and benefits derived from Small-Scale Technology Certificates. energy technology While premium feed in tariffs are being wound back (ending in NSW in 2016), solar PV is still an economically viable option for many applications. Protection from rising electricity, gas and diesel prices. Lower cost and advances in battery storage technology is Security of supply. Electricity users in rural areas making off-grid power supply to farmers on the fringe of the being the fringes of the network are often prone to electricity network increasingly attractive. This will continue to high rates of brownouts, blackouts, or voltage spikes. support the adoption of solar PV, with the pace of change in Likewise, farmers in remote areas are the first to suffer the solar PV market expected to accelerate in coming years from restrictions to diesel supply. (Energetics, 2014). Flexibility. Renewable energy can supplement existing energy sources. There is often no need to become Investing in renewable technology – fully energy self sufficient. A farmer who can generate a strategic approach energy can make market based decisions as to when to buy (use) or sell (export) energy. Achieving good outcomes from investment in renewable Flow-on savings. Installation of farm generation technology depends on selecting the right technology, will typically be associated with energy efficiency designed and specified to meet the specific nature and needs measures such as automated control systems which of your business. help protect equipment, reduce maintenance costs A good starting point is to gain familiarity with the various and extend equipment life. technologies and the key factors that determine suitability for Regional and community benefits. Displacing a different properties. portion of your electricity demand can sometimes The following chapters outline the most well-known and help stabilise local voltages and reduce the likelihood proven renewable energy technologies and their key design of your area experiencing outages from a tripped and cost considerations. transformer. This can eventually help to lessen Before locking into a solution, it is important to clarify your the need for costly network upgrades (which have broader farm energy management strategy. significantly driven up electricity costs in recent years). NSW Farmers has delivered energy assessments on farms Community energy projects. NSW Farmers supports across NSW and across all sectors of agriculture. In our community energy initiatives where rural stakeholders