Agriculture hits renewable energy sweet spot

[Fledermaus]

The combination of extensive land resources and access to a ready supply of energy crops and organic waste materials ensures that the agricultural sector is particularly well suited to the installation of renewable energy technologies.

That is the conclusion of a major renewable energy feasibility study undertaken by consultancy Bidwells for supermarket giant Asda and agricultural firm Fenmarc, which found that there was a strong environmental and financial case for investment in renewable energy technologies across the food supply chain.

"Agriculture has land as a resource, organic waste and the ability to grow crops ," observed Greg Hilton, renewable energy consultant at Bidwells. "All industries can benefit from renewable energy, but agriculture is certainly very well placed."

That is the conclusion of a major renewable energy feasibility study undertaken by consultancy Bidwells for supermarket giant Asda and agricultural firm Fenmarc, which found that there was a strong environmental and financial case for investment in renewable energy technologies across the food supply chain.

The study assessed the Asda-Fenmarc supply chain - which supplies the retailer with about 100,000 tonnes of potatoes from over 100 farms in the UK - and found that the installation of renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines, anaerobic digestors, and biofuel powered vehicles could neutralise emissions from the supply chain, cutting its overall footprint by 21,575 tonnes a year.

The study argued that farmers had a number of renewable options available, such as the installation of wind turbines on their land, development of energy crops to fuel their vehicles and the use of waste organic matter in biomass generators.

It mapped out two scenarios, one designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 23 per cent using an anaerobic digestor installed at Femmarc's pack house and a biofuel powered transport fleet and a second designed to deliver carbon neutrality through a larger anaerobic digestor, a biodiesel fleet and six wind turbines.

It concluded that both projects would deliver a solid return on investment with the low carbon option delivering an internal rate of return by 17 per cent based on a capital investment of £1.6m and the carbon neutral proposals calculated to deliver a rate of return of 20 per cent based on an upfront investment of £19.8m.

"An anaerobic digestor at a pack house can use all the left over waste material to provide energy and also charge gate fees for waste material from other sites," he said. "The technology also generates two units of heat for every one unit of electricity so feasibly a firm could use that heat through an absorption chiller to cool the facility or alternatively co-locate a greenhouse on the site, which would then use the waste heat."

http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2217182/agriculture-hits-renewable

[Kolesar]

1. I use soybean seedmeal, the by-product of pressing oil seeds as fertilizer in my garden

There is value in just returning the output of the soil back into the soil.

[Fledermaus]

2. Yes, returning the output is very important.

We use man made fertilizers because we don't return nutrients back to the land.

Anaerobic digester's provide power and heat while closing the nutrient cycle. Digester's provide high quality fertilizer.

Youtube Nitrogen cycle...made by students

[JohnWxy]

3. recommended.