Climate and energy in agro

Developments in the sector since the Agrocovenant

Climate and energy are often mentioned in the same breath. Thinking about energy from a sustainable perspective is the order of the day. In agriculture, too, steps have been taken for years within this topic. What have we learned from the past years and how should we proceed in the future? What initiatives are there in Limburg and what opportunities are there still? In this article we talk to you.

European objectives

In 2007, European leaders formulated a set of objectives on the theme of climate and energy, which must be achieved by the year 2020. In addition to reducing greenhouse gases (20% reduction compared to 1990), it is mainly about energy: 20% of energy production in Europe must come from renewable sources by 2020 and energy efficiency must be improved. Here, too, the target is a 20% improvement.

The package of targets and measures was adopted in 2008 and enshrined in European legislation one year later.

'Clean and efficient agro sectors' in the Netherlands

In 2008, the European plans led to the Agro Covenant in the Netherlands, an agreement between the government and the agro sectors, which includes agreements on climate and energy. It is also called the "clean and efficient agrosectors" covenant. The two energy themes are the same as within the European agreements: the more efficient use of energy and an increase in the use of renewable energy. The participating sectors within the Agro Covenant are dairy farming, intensive livestock farming, arable farming and open cultivation, the forestry and timber sector, the flower bulb sector, the mushroom sector, greenhouse horticulture and agro industry.

Energy use in agriculture

How much energy does the agricultural sector in the Netherlands use? And is there less energy consumed since the covenant? In the year 2008 agriculture used 154.7 PJ (petajoules) of energy. That was less than 5% of the total consumption in the Netherlands. In the years that followed, energy consumption fluctuated, with the outliers being 177.5 PJ in 2010 and 148.7 PJ in 2014. In 2018, 161.8 PJ was consumed, which was over 5% of the total consumption in the Netherlands.

So while national energy consumption did decline between 2008 and 2018, it did not do so within the agricultural sector. Use in agro-industry increased slightly, greenhouse horticulture actually used slightly less energy, and agriculture (excluding greenhouse horticulture) remained constant.

Happily, there is still plenty of potential for energy saving and the government is helping farmers to reduce their energy consumption. The RVO compiled a list of recognized measures for energy saving in the agricultural sector, which must pay for themselves within five years. This concerns adjustments to, for example, cooling systems, insulation, ventilation and lighting.

Efficient use of energy

In addition to using less energy, more efficient use of energy is also an objective. Greenhouse horticulture is an energy-intensive sector that has long made successful efforts to improve energy efficiency. Of all the agro sectors, energy consumption is highest in greenhouse horticulture (approximately 100 PJ). By handling energy generation differently, greenhouse horticulture managed to reduce its share of total energy-related emissions from agriculture from 88% in 1990 to 77% in 2016. This was mainly the result of the use of so-called CHPs, combined heat and power plants. Emissions decreased by 1.2 Mton between 1990 and 2016, while crop production increased by about 40%.

California in Limburg

A local example of the successful use of a CHP is the greenhouse tree area California, northwest of Venlo. Here, electricity is generated through the combustion of gas. This process also releases heat and CO2. The heat and CO2 are the most important to the horticulturists. They need it so that the plants can grow. Most market gardeners therefore have more than one CHP plant. The number depends on the heat requirement. A tomato needs more heat to grow optimally than a cucumber or bell pepper.

In addition to heat, the process in the CHP also releases CO₂. Horticulturalists can make good use of this for the growth of their plants. Some of the electricity generated by the CHP is used by the growers themselves. What they have left over, they supply to consumers via the high-voltage substation. The finely-meshed system of all these small power stations makes it easy to respond to fluctuations in demand. In this way, greenhouses contribute to responsible production and the greenhouse is a source of energy.

So, although fossil energy is still used here, it is put to much better use.

Sustainable energy: consumption and production

The Agro Covenant has detailed targets for renewable energy, both for the supply of biomass (forest sector and agro industry), and for the production of green electricity (wind energy) and green gas (fermentation). Other forms are solar energy, aquathermy and geothermy.

Consumption of renewable energy

What happened within the agricultural sector in terms of renewable energy since the Agro Covenant? In 2008, 6.8 PJ of renewable energy was consumed in agriculture. That was then 5.3% of national consumption and 4.4% of energy consumption within the sector. Ten years later, the 16.8 PJ consumed represented 8.4% of national energy consumption and 10.4% of consumption within agriculture. So clearly there have been big leaps here.

The figure below further shows that it is mainly greenhouse horticulture where a decrease in the use of fossil fuel was realized.

Distribution of fossil energy use across agricultural sectors. Source: RVO

Production of sustainable energy

Where greenhouse horticulture is strong in energy saving, arable farming and livestock farming produce the most renewable energy. Collecting figures on the production of renewable energy in agriculture has proved to be fragmented and difficult. Comparing all available information, it appears that agriculture produced 26.8 PJ of renewable energy in 2016, of which 22.6 PJ was produced by agriculture excluding greenhouse horticulture, representing 81% of final end use.

Developments in renewable energy. Source: RVO

Renewable energy in the Limburg agricultural sector

The Limburg agricultural sector is actively involved in many ways in the extraction of renewable energy. Some methods have been in use for years, other forms are still in their infancy. We list a number of diverse initiatives.

Solar energy: solar panels at the Sint Jozefhoeve

Solar energy is a form of renewable energy that has been known and used for a long time. Already in 2011 the Hubens family in Beesel put 1000m² of solar panels on the roofs of their buildings. They own 100 dairy cows and more than 800 dairy goats and attach great importance to sustainable business. The solar panels are located on the south-eastern roofs of the buildings and provide an annual yield of 190,000 kWh. Part of this is used by the Sint Jozefhoeve itself, the rest goes to an energy supplier who supplies 35 households with green energy.

Wind energy: dairy farmers build wind farm

Wind energy is by no means a new phenomenon, but in the province of Limburg it is only developed to a limited extent. There are many initiatives and plans, but there is also resistance against the placement of wind turbines. In the municipality of Peel en Maas, dairy farmers Marc Hubers, Peter Bongers and Peter Rooijakkers have been pursuing the construction of a wind farm for some time. In February 2019, the court ruled that the construction of Wind Farm Egchelse Heide can go ahead. This wind farm consists of 5 wind turbines with a maximum axis height and rotor diameter of 140 meters. It will be built in cooperation with energy cooperative Peel Energie.

The farmers involved have linked their sustainable ambitions not only to meet their own energy needs, but to support the entire municipality. The goal is to generate about 75% of private electricity consumption locally and green, and to supply homes in the immediate vicinity with even 100% energy. It is a cooperative, in which residents of Peel en Maas can participate and whose revenues will demonstrably flow back into the community of Peel en Maas.

Biomass combustion: local prunings become energy

A relatively newer way of generating sustainable energy is biomass combustion. In recent years, several initiatives have been developed in this field within Limburg. Sweet bell pepper grower Geert Bouten and zucchini and plum tomato grower Sjraar Hoeijmakers from Horst started the VuurSaam project in 2013. In this project, a local mix of prunings, branches and top wood is burned in an installation, which then supplies the released heat and power to three horticultural companies and a house.

Trost tomato grower Geurts in Oirlo has two biomass stoves, in which he burns prunings from local forests and heats his greenhouses. When his biosystem is running at maximum, he burns about 100 tons a week. He is now completely self-sufficient in energy. In the summer, he even keeps some energy left over, which he can sell by giving it back to the grid.

In the horticultural area of Siberia near Venlo, a large biomass plant with a heat network is pending, currently still under construction. The initiative for this heat cluster comes from bell pepper grower Gubbels in Maasbree and TBM Europe in Uden. Currently there are four more agricultural companies that have joined: Fortaplant (propagation of warm, young vegetable plants and rooting and cutting of soft fruit cuttings), Nature's Green Group (greenhouse horticulture, cultivation of cucumbers and vine tomatoes) and Siberia (cultivation of lettuce and leafy crops in an innovative cultivation gutter system). But Gubbels hopes for more participants in the future. That's why the pipe network is already being set up for more power. The plant runs on burning wood and pruning waste that is supplied entirely from the local area as fuel.

Biomass fermentation: from cow manure to green gas

In addition to burning biomass, fermentation is also possible. Since August 2018, the dairy farm of brothers Willem and Johan Loonen in Merselo, North Limburg, has been using a manure digester to convert manure into green gas. Per year, this involves approximately 12,000 tons of manure and a portion of straw manure. This takes place in the Microferm green gas installation of HoSt which produces 40 Nm3 (cubic meters) of green gas per hour.

An average of 233 Dutch households per year can be supplied with gas in this way. The green gas is fed into the gas grid, after which households can use it for heating, cooking and hot water.

"In August 2018, the installation went into operation and since then we have been feeding green gas into the gas network without any problems. The green gas feed into the grid happened less than a week after the digester was filled with digestate. That whole process went very smoothly. We fill the solid input twice a day. We can do that in between when we are also feeding the cows. Everything else is fully automatic," say the Limburg brothers.

Biomass fermentation: from pig manure to green gas

On a much larger scale, there are plans to build a biogas plant at Chemelot chemical park. Pig farmers in Limburg will be able to take their manure to this plant. The installation will be built by Zitta®Biogas, a joint venture between the Danish company Re-N technology and the Limburg-based producer of fertilizer and ammonia OCI Nitrogen. The latter will use the biogas in the production process and process the residual flow from the fermentation, digestate, into organic fertilizer pellets. The residual heat from the plant will be used to further optimize the energy consumption of this process. Zitta®Biogas will process over 700,000 tons of manure per year from pig farmers in Limburg. Livestock farmers who want to supply manure are expected to be able to register later this year.

Geothermal: CLG and CWG geothermal projects

The fact that not all forms of sustainable energy extraction have yet crystallized is demonstrated by two geothermal projects near Venlo. CLG (California Lipzig Gielen) and CWG (California Wijnen Geothermie) in Grubbenvorst heated various greenhouses in the California greenhouse area, but both are currently at a standstill. In geothermal energy, warm water is brought up from the earth and used as a heat source. In the Netherlands, at 10 meters into the ground it is constantly 10 to 12 degrees Celsius and then every 100 meters deeper it gets +/- 3 degrees warmer. At a depth of 2,000 meters the water is about 70 degrees Celsius. A so-called doublet is being built: two wells of which one pumps the water up from about 2,000 meters and the other brings the cooled water back to the same depth. There it is then reheated by the earth.

There are many advantages to geothermal energy: it is a natural heat source, no CO₂ is released, takes up little space and is odorless and noiseless to the environment. But there are also disadvantages: the construction is not cheap, there is a risk of drinking water pollution and possibly earthquakes. Exactly the latter caused the shutdown of CLG. Since June 2017, CLG was allowed to produce geothermal heat under the condition that production would cease as soon as an earthquake occurs in the area. A small earthquake occurred on August 25, 2018, followed by a larger one on September 3, 2018. State Supervision of Mines (SSM) stated that there was insufficient scientific data on the specific underground situation to be able to extract geothermal heat responsibly. Since then, there has been ongoing research into the risks, but CLG is still not allowed to proceed.

CWG was already at a standstill earlier. They only had temporary permission for geothermal extraction and stopped on May 10, 2019. Both geothermal companies are located in the vicinity of active natural fractures in the subsurface. The companies are therefore only allowed to extract geothermal heat under strict conditions.

How to proceed?

It is a fact that great strides have been made in the climate-friendly use of energy. Some of the targets of the Agro Covenant have already been met, others not yet. In 2014 the RVO published the overview below. In it we see that the results vary widely.

Objectives and results Agrocovenant. Source: RVO

We have seen that the agricultural sector in Limburg is fully involved in making energy more sustainable. At the same time, many projects are still in a development phase and certain forms of renewable energy are still lagging behind, such as wind energy. To date there are six windmills: five near Neer and one near Heerlen. The aforementioned Echgelse Heide wind farm and the planned Greenport Venlo wind farm could bring change.

What also stands out is the role of cooperation. Although there is much that a farmer can do on an individual level when it comes to energy savings, we see that working together with other parties leads to great results and makes more forms of sustainable energy possible.

Would you also like to get started with energy?

From surveys conducted by the RVO among farmers it appears that further dissemination of knowledge is still needed. There are many possibilities to save on energy, or to make more use of sustainable energy. What the best option is for you depends on the sector in which you operate, the size and location of your farm and various other factors. The website of AgroEnergiek will help you further. There are also various subsidies and schemes at European level and within the Netherlands.

Sources: European Commission, RVO, California, Sint Jozefhoeve, Samen Duurzaam Peel en Maas, the Judiciary, New Harvest, Host, Agro&Chemistry, Geo-Well, Drinking Water Platform, SodM, Volkskrant, CBS