Since the Paris agreements, the states have committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and developing renewable energies, as their priorities. At the European level, these policies are continuing today with the adoption of the Green Deal and the objective of reducing GHG emissions by 30%.
Agriculture, the leading producer of green energy, also consumes large quantities of fossil fuels. STE, long neglected in North West European countries due to climatic conditions, is now an economical and renewable alternative to energy sources such as gas, oil and electricity.
The ICARE4FARMS project aims at testing the relevance and the potential development of STE in North-Western European agriculture and in particular in five countries: Belgium (Flanders), France, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. This study aims to identify the most relevant agricultural sectors for the use of solar thermal energy in each of the five countries, to study the technical and financial conditions of their substitution to conventional energy sources and to estimate their development potential.
STE (production of heat and not electricity) is still very little used in agricultural production in Northern Europe for three main reasons:
- It depends on the average annual sunshine which is between 1200kwh/m2/year for the northern half of France to less than 900kwh/m2/year in Ireland,
- It is adapted to heating systems using hot water and preferably at low temperature (below 60°C),
- It is more profitable if heat is required throughout the year.
Based on the previous criteria we have identified five main types of agricultural production potentially suitable for STE:
- Milk-fed calf farms that use hot water for feed production (reconstituted milk),
- Dairy farms and in particular those that process milk on the farm,
- Pig farms, especially maternity and post-weaning units,
- Heated greenhouses: market gardening and horticulture,
- Broiler poultry farms.
Interviews with farmers and representatives of the various agricultural technical centres made it possible to specify the most relevant cases for each of these areas. Finally, in each country, economic studies of the sector produced by the States (ministries of agriculture, national energy agencies, etc.), universities and/or agricultural technical centres allowed us to evaluate the number of solar thermal installations that can potentially be deployed on farms.
It emerges that 3 target sectors stand out in our five countries:
- Dairy farms with more than 100 cows in France, Belgium, Great Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands,
- Beef calf farms in France, Belgium and the Netherlands,
- Greenhouses kept frost-free or at low temperatures in France and Great Britain.
Considering this data, the number of possible solar installations draws near 30,000.
The complete market analysis report endeavours to review and explore these potential prospects related to STE within the agricultural area, with an in-depth focus on the 5 target sectors of high interest.
It provides a relevant overview of prominent field materials and outlooks about STE optimal application in agriculture; it will be complemented by several case studies as well as further inquiries to detail more precisely the ideal specifications to address properly the overlap of technical constraints and energy needs.
