Introduction
Welcome to the Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) learning module on Energy management and green energy production!
Reasonable energy management in the agri-food system can make a contribution to the transition to climate-smart agriculture and to achieving food, climate and energy security. The synergy between energy and climate-smart agricultural practices can be created through resource-efficient agricultural practices.
The challenge of reducing dependence on fossil fuels can be met through the expansion of energy-efficient food systems. These systems improve energy efficiency, increase the use and production of renewable energy.
Find out why in this module!
By the end of this module, you will not only know what reasonable energy management in the agri-food system is, have an overview of the different forms and know its benefits, but you will also have the opportunity to test your knowledge in a quiz and apply it in other activities.
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcome 1
- Knowledge: Know Models of Energy management and green energy production
- Skills: Connecting and seeing the synergy between energy and climate-smart agricultural
- Competencies: be able to judge the increase the use and production of renewable energy in your added value chain
Learning Outcome 2
- Knowledge: Know need and chances of sound energy management in the agri-food system
- Competencies: Be able to scale efficient energy- and ressources-management in your farm and in your added value chain
Energy management and green energy production
Brainstorming
What does Energy management and green energy production mean to you?
Create a quick mind map by placing the different points. You can add to it later and correct it if necessary.
You can also use a whiteboard and collect the points together.
Value chain in Food – Energy in Energy out
Shares of Energy consumption and GHG emissions along the food supply
Energy management is used to identify and exploit potential energy savings. First of all, energy flows in the company and the associated energy sources are recorded and analyzed, then ideas for improvement are developed on this basis, evaluated for cost-effectiveness and subsequently implemented.
If we understand the term energy management to mean the implementation of various data-based optimization measures to reduce the cost of energy supply, this cost reduction can be achieved through optimized use or modernization of existing energy consumers. Another possibility is the additional generation of revenue from own electricity production plants (e.g. rooftop photovoltaic systems) or from the marketing of flexibilized consumers, such as in electromobility or electrified heat supply. Therefore, energy management is by no means to be understood as synonymous with the term energy efficiency, even if there may well be overlaps between the two fields.
Management measures differ from optimization measures in that they are usually repeated – often automated – and are not one-off measures. However, this increases the level of complexity enormously, as the interaction of different components can have conflicting objectives: For example, the dynamic management of a battery storage system to increase self-consumption from the home’s own PV system is opposed by the purely technical objective of maximizing the life cycles of the battery storage system. Modern energy management incorporates these conflicting objectives into the management of the components and thus achieves an overall optimum.
Possible action and measures on the farm to cope with needs and use chances
- technical
- technological
- agronomic
- financial
When introducing new or improved actions and measures, it is essential to consider affordability, social and cultural aspects.
It is not recommendable for a single farm to go to bankruptcy for the sake of climate smart farm picture.
But the climate smart farm picture is a development line, and so it is very recommendable to consider options in producing and using renewable energy.
Different types of Energy management and green energy production
Brainstorming
What kind of green energy production you already implemented?
What further kinds of produaciton and management you know?
What innovations do you ecpect in nearer future?
Create a quick mind map by placing the different points. You can add to it later and correct it if necessary.
You can also use a whiteboard and collect the points together.
Why not making a +/ – table?
An integrated approach to renewable energy for farming systems
Renewable energy production, relevant sources for farmers
Sun/ Solar panels
Sunlight is one of the most readily available energy resources on the planet, so one might assume that it is the most important renewable energy source. But of course, the amount of sunlight we get can vary greatly depending on location, season and time of day.
Bioenergy/ Biomass plants/ Biogas production
Electricity can be generated by burning organic material as a fuel source. These fuels are called biomass and include everything from plants to wood to food waste. The production of bioenergy releases carbon dioxide (CO2), but these fuels are considered renewable as they can regrow and absorb as much carbon as they release during their lifetime.
Wind/ Wind Mills
Onshore and offshore wind farms generate electricity by setting the blades of wind turbines in motion. The turbines convert the kinetic energy of the spinning blades into electrical energy by turning a drive shaft and a gearbox connected to a generator. The electricity is then converted into higher voltages and fed into the national grid.
Hydropower
Hydroelectric power plants are located on dams and generate electricity through underwater turbines that drive a generator. Hydropower also includes wave and tidal power plants, which harness the forces of the sea to generate electricity at the mouths of large bodies of water using similar technology.
Flexibility/ Battery
Most electricity from renewable energies is weather-dependent. It is produced independently of demand, namely when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining or the biogas plant „digesting“.
This means that wind turbines and solar plants behave completely differently to existing fossil fuel power plants, which can basically supply electricity at any time.
In order to reconcile supply and demand, conventional coal and gas-fired power plants must therefore react more flexibly and adapt their electricity production – both to fluctuating demand and to the fluctuating generation of wind and solar power. In concrete terms, this means that they have to change their output more quickly and more frequently, i.e. ramp it up and down.
If there is a particularly large supply of electricity and correspondingly low exchange prices, additional demand can also be worthwhile. For example, electricity can be used for heating – keyword: power-to-heat.
This can save heating oil or gas. Electric cars can also react flexibly to an increase in electricity generation and charge their batteries at precisely these times.
Electricity cannot be stored. Kilowatt hours cannot be stored until they are needed. In order to store electricity, it must be temporarily converted, for example in pumped storage plants or batteries..
When inflexible generation technologies meet inflexible consumers, there is a need for storage.
There are for example large pumped storage facilities in the Alps or storage facilities for example located in Scandinavia which could be connected by additional and comparatively inexpensive submarine cables.
Battery storage systems are significantly smaller and are particularly useful when there are many small deviations between supply and demand, i.e. frequency fluctuations. This means that they can also contribute to a high level of supply security.
Battery development is developing quite fast in last years.
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Behind farm gate
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Beyond farm gate
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Benefits of Energy management and green energy production
Brainstorming
How does your SWOT of green energy on farm look like?
Create a quick mind map by placing the different points. You can add to it later and correct it if necessary.
You can also use a whiteboard and collect the points together.
Why not making a +/ – table?
SWOT of the on farm approach
The high and fluctuating cost of energy has created economic challenges for many farmers, crop farmers as well as livestock breeders. As a result, more and more producers are looking to alternative energy sources to improve their energy independence and income.
Savings and profit margin can be even greater as energy and fuel prices rise.
As more innovative farmers look for ways to reduce energy consumption and increase efficiency in farming, they are turning to renewable energy sources and sustainably produced biofuels.
By using sustainable energy in agriculture in form of wind power, solar power and biomass energy, farmers can not only reduce their costs, but also develop long-term sources of income.
Farmers key role
Considering the above facts and figures, energy efficient food systems do not seem to be very important for the third pillar of CSA, greenhouse gas emissions reduction and carbon sequestration. Primary production is responsible for most agricultural emissions, but most of the energy used in the agri-food sector is not used for primary production. This also applies to energy used directly in the food chain.
However, there are additional links that make energy-efficient food systems important for CSA. Many of these links become clear when looking at mitigation potential rather than actual greenhouse gas emissions and energy use.
Reducing energy consumption in the food chain will reduce CO2 emissions.
There is a link between nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from fertilizer application and energy consumption (and therefore CO2 emissions) from fertilizer production. Precision agriculture, including more efficient use of fertilizers, will lower CO2 and N2O emissions and reduce fossil fuel consumption. Methane emissions can be reduced by using manure for biogas production, which can also improve energy access or reduce the use of fossil fuels on farms.
Considerations like these show that there are many links between energy-efficient food systems and CSA that go beyond the reduction of CO2 emissions from fossil fuels.
Quiz
Summing up
Although renewable energies play a key role in future low-carbon plans to limit global warming, their dependence on climatic conditions also makes them vulnerable to climate change.
This also applies to energy-efficient food systems. For example, climate change will affect many aspects of renewable energy production, such as biofuel crop cultivation, water availability and the seasonality of hydropower, atmospheric conditions for wind and solar energy, and fluctuations in energy demand for heating and cooling.
Energy supply must be made as “climate-proof” as possible to ensure that energy use in the agricultural and food system is climate-compatible.
Agroforestry
Imagine you on a farm made on scratch:
You are there, managing a 240cow plus own breed dairy farm.
You are lucky, because you manage a farm on rounded up 180ha of 100ha crop land and 80ha grassland.
Up to now you only built the stable and only have the machinery for the processes on farm.
Discuss and calculate what would be your optimized energy design for this farm:
- Energy supply
- Energy demand (on farm and top third parties)
- Energy System
