Investing in renewable energy
Energy is required throughout the dairy supply chain. Examples listed in this key area are focused on reducing energy use.
On-farm anaerobic digestion: an Eastern Canadian example
| Source : Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) |
Using a feedstock of dairy manure and food waste from a nearby food processing plant, this farm is the first in the province of New Brunswick to produce biogas.
The Laforge family farm has been thinking and planning their digester for the last 15 years and now produces enough energy for 200 homes. The digester uses food wastes as a source of protein and energy, and manure from 200 cows to provide bacteria. Without the food waste, the farm would need 1200 cows to make the same amount of electricity.
See the related video here (television program of the farm’s digester, in French only).
Pictures Links Contact all info
Mengniu sustainability programmes - China
| Source : Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy Group Co., Ltd |
Inner Mongolia Mengniu Group has set up green industry chain, from farm to consumer. In 2011, Mengniu joined WWF China's "Carbon Reduction Pioneer" programme and committed to 5 year carbon reduction goals. It invested 6 mio RMB to establish first eco-grassland fund in China, supporting sustainable and ecological deployment of grassland. Its "green cash model" covers methane power generation, waste water and package recycling.
Mengniu is building a methane power generation plant, the Mengniu Aoya Modern Farm. Per day, this will be able to generate 11K cubic meters of methane, generating 30,000 kWh of electricity and 35 tonnes of organic fertiliser.
Mengniu has also invested 400 mio RMB into processing waste water, 15 mio tonnes reached 1st level standards of waste water discharge, and is reused. In terms of packaging, Mengniu committed to use carton material from sustainable certified forests, which meets low carbon and green standards.
The Mengniu sustainability programme has won the 2011 IDF Dairy Innovation Award for the Best environmental sustainability initiative.
Arla’s Environmental Strategy 2020 sets new standards
| Source : Arla Foods |
Arla’s new environmental strategy for 2020 aims high.
From focusing exclusively on the impact from production, transport and packaging, the recently completed strategy plan now encompasses the entire environmental impact of dairy products - right from the farm to the consumers’ wheelie bins.
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Arla Trials Revolutionary Fuel Cell - United Kingdom
| Source : Arla Foods |
- Arla Foods is engaged in a research project together with Lindhurst Engineering and The University of Nottingham.
- The project aim is to improve the techniques of renewable energy production from farm and dairy effluent.
- A Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) converts the chemical oxygen demand (COD) into a renewable energy asset.
- Trials show that minimum 1.3GWh of energy could be produced from the effluent of a typical dairy.
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Crave Brothers Farm and Farmstead Cheese - Wisconsin, USA
| Source : Innovation Center For US Dairy |
“Through our dairy farm and cheese factory, we enjoy telling the story of dairy farming that emphasizes cow comfort, quality milk and working in harmony with the land to produce quality milk and award winning cheeses.” - George Crave
Crave Brothers Farm is an early adopter of:
- Methane digester
Green Mountain Dairy – Vermont, USA
| Source : Innovation Center For US Dairy |
“We saw this as an economic and environmental management tool. It's helped to diversify our farm.” - Bill Rowell
Converting manure into:
- Biogas: Creating electricity to power 300-350 area homes
- Bedding
- Fertilizer
The Sustainable Dairy Chain - commitment of the Dutch dairy industry
| Source : NZO (Nederlandse Zuivel Organisatie) |
The Sustainable Dairy Chain initiative ('Duurzame Zuivelketen' in Dutch) embodies the commitment of the Dutch dairy industry to take significant steps concerning three major themes:
- Energy and Climate;
- Animal health and welfare;
- Grazing, and
- Biodiversity (closing of mineral loops, sustainable soy, landscape conservation).
Working together, dairy farmers and the processing industry in the Netherlands have set collective goals. These goals are being pursued more specifically through a number of ongoing projects. For more information on their progress, see the attached 2010 annual report “Breakthrough in sustainability”.
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Research that advances the science and best practices for the use of manure and other co-products on dairy farms of all sizes - USA
| Source : Innovation Center For US Dairy |
The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, in affiliation with the Dairy Research Center, has announced an agreement to work jointly with a national energy research laboratory, the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) on research that advances the science and best practices for the use of manure and other co-products on dairy farms of all sizes.
The joint research is focused on innovations that deliver enhanced economic vitality of dairy farms and rural communities.
CAES is a national research partnership representing the U.S. Department of Energy, Idaho National Laboratory and the State of Idaho through its research universities.
For more information, read the press release available at the attached link.
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Biogas produced by dairy farms – Mexico
| Source : Nestlé |
In Mexico, Nestlé collects fresh milk in several dairy production areas where biogas digesters have been built to capture methane from cow manure and use it as energy.
Additional biogas plants are under construction as a result of the sustainability analysis at farm level (RISE assessment). In 2011, we project that around 35% of the milk supplied for Nestlé in Mexico will come from dairy farms with biogas plants.
Follow this link to learn more: http://www.nestle.com/CSV/CreatingSharedValueCaseStudies/
Investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency
| Source : Tetra Pak International |
- Tetra Pak committed to reduce the CO2 emissions of its own operations by 10% between 2005 and 2010 in absolute terms, and exceeded this 2010 target by cutting its emissions 12.9 % while increasing production. This represents a relative reduction of more than 30% in 2010 compared to 2005.
- The reductions have been achieved through improved energy efficiency and increased use of renewable energy, for example the new manufacturing plant in Hohhot, China is running entirely on renewable energy. The savings globally in CO2 eq. compared to business as usual amounts to approximately 117 000 tons, roughly 74 000 tons from purchase of green energy and about 43 000 tons via increased energy efficiency. More than 60% of these savings (app. 70 000 tons) can be attributed to the production of processing and packaging solutions for Tetra Pak’s dairy customers.
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- In April 2011, Tetra Pak announced its new environmental programme aiming to cap carbon emissions at 2010 levels by the end of 2020 while maintaining growth. With an estimated 5% annual growth rate achieving this goal would require a 40% relative reduction in CO2 eq. emissions. This target not only includes Tetra Pak’s operations, but also those across the entire value chain. This means that Tetra Pak will additionally ask its suppliers to meet agreed targets and will support customers’ activities to reduce their own emissions.
Fonterra’s Dairy Electricity Advisory Programme (DEAP) - New Zealand
| Source : Fonterra |
- Electricity is a significant on-farm cost. It accounts for approximately 1.2% of the dairy farm carbon footprint.
- Total dairy farm electricity use is estimated at 1,000,000 MWh - slightly more than used in our processing plants. Fonterra has completed a pilot energy efficiency programme.
- This pilot has identified the potential to reduce electricity use by 16% on the sample farms with a payback of less than 3 years. Ways of rolling this initiative out to all New Zealand's dairy farms are now being considered.
Biogas engine project - Australia
| Source : Murray Goulburn Cooperative |
- One of the by-products of Murray Goulburn’s Leongatha’s Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) is biogas, a mixture of mainly 61% methane and 34% carbon dioxide. The WWTP currently produces on average 9,600 cubic meters of biogas per day, which has been burned off as a flare.
- Works commenced in February 2009. The project involved installation of a 500 kW and a 260 kW Shendong engine/generator set, which is housed in a sound-reduced building along with the computer control room. Adjacent to this, is a Biogas Alkaline Scrubber to remove Hydrogen sulphide impurities and moisture from the biogas
- The biogas is burned in a combustion engine to generate power. The smaller engine is sized to handle the minimum expected biogas production, and any excess biogas during peak production will be diverted to burn off at the flare.
- Murray Goulburn’s Leongatha’s consumption of power is around 8,000 kilowatts. The new plant generates 760 kilowatts. With the acquisition of Renewable Energy and Carbon Credits, the payback time for the project will be under three years. Over the ten year replacement life of the main plant, substantial energy cost-savings will be achieved.
Renewable Energy - Finland
| Source : Valio |
Valio has invested in and replaced on it’s major sites power plants using only fossil fuel with plants which can utilize renewable energy
Steam from biomass: wood-chip heat power station - Germany
| Source : Zott GmbH & Co |
Company: Zott GmbH & Co. KG
Contact partner: R. Nisseler
Purpose: Replacement of natural gas as a fossil-energy source by renewable, CO2-neutral raw materials (wood-chips)
Description of procedure: By cooperation between Zott and MW Alpha nine, a wood-chip heat power station is constructed on Zott's own site, with an energy supply of about 45.000 to adr wood chips a year, energy generation of about 51.000 MWh steam a year and a current generation of about 9.400 MWh current a year (approximately 2500 budgets) supplied to the public current supply network. Subject to processing are mostly unused residual wood chips supplied by the Bayerische Staatsforste including private suppliers of wood, situated within the space from the nearest proximity
Steam delivery to Zott:
Full supply with a peak load up to 24 to steam/hour
Steam quantity between 66.800 to and 110.000 (actual requirement about 80.000 to a year)
- Food quality (can be directly inserted, without converter)
- 75 per cent of this quantity is returned by Zott as a condensation product
- Heat recovery up to a condensation temperature of 40 degrees C
Milk Roadmap anaerobic digestion – United Kingdom
| Source : Dairy UK |
Target: Anaerobic Digestion: 30 on-farm AD units by 2010
Activity and Progress:
- The Environment Agency’s decision to revise its regulatory position on the waste status of anaerobic digestate produced from farm-based inputs in December 2008 removed a strong disincentive to the use of AD digestate and the advancement of AD technology on-farm generally.
- Under the regulations, previously manure and slurry treated in AD plants were considered ‘wastes’. Farmers were required to take out an environmental permit or waste management exemption if they wanted to spread the digestate on their land which meant unnecessary administrative and cost burdens. Now the digestate will not be considered as ‘waste’ provided it is used as fertiliser on agricultural land in the way undigested manure and slurry would be.
- This decision by the Environment Agency removes a significant barrier to the development of small-scale on-farm AD. This should help stimulate greater use of digestates on farm land and hopefully encourage more farmer investment in AD technology.
Measurement:
- Case studies (to include individual farm installations and collaborations)
- Government / RDA supported initiatives / AD plant equipment sales.
Target Status:
- Currently gathering data
Pioneer farmer powers dairy with slurry biogas - United Kingdom
| Source : Dairy UK |
- Alan Hogarth, a Scottish farmer based near Saltcoats in Ayrshire, is a pioneer or anaerobic digestion in the UK.
- He runs a plant capable of turning the combined slurry of his 250-cow dairy herd into 85,000m³ of biogas each year.
- This is burnt to generate 170,000 kWh of ‘greener’ electricity and lots of heat – enough to power his farm, his home and a new milk processing and bottling operation.
Hardie Farms - New York, USA
| Source : Innovation Center For US Dairy |
“My personal philosophy is that we need to be supportive of ideas that may or may not end up having merit. Different practices work for different farms. But innovation is how you move up the ladder of success." - Skip Hardie
Hardie Farms was an early adopter of:
- Variable speed pumps
- Drag hosing
Haubenschild Farms – Minnesota, USA
| Source : Innovation Center For US Dairy |
“I believe in ‘earth-neutral’ farming” - Dennis Haubenschild
Practicing:
- Variable speed pumps
- Methane digester technology : Producing enough electricity for dairy and 70 area homes
- Water recycling
- Testing fuel cell technology
Reducing energy requirements - Australia
| Source : Bega Cheese |
Bega Cheese is being proactive in encouraging its dairy farmers to reduce their carbon footprint by reducing their energy requirements.
- Bega Cheese suppliers, are provided with a weekly newsletter which has information regarding Government grants and the various Companies that can assist with energy saving equipment installations.
- Bega Cheese will continue to promote the installation of energy saving equipment and will apply for funding to assist farmers to adopt better technology as it becomes available.
- In the near future Bega Cheese will have the capacity to undertake energy audits for its dairy suppliers and provide advice on how to reduce energy use and how to adopt renewable energy sources.
Industry association initiatives: DemoDAIRY - Australia
| Source : DemoDAIRY |
Creating Energy From Effluent Project
- In June 2009 a project commenced at DemoDAIRY to ascertain if there is enough methane emission from first effluent pond (sludge lagoon) to generate energy
- The project will determine the methane’s energy value, its potential for beneficial uses such as electricity generation, heating or refrigeration and if this could be achieved at an affordable price. DemoDAIRY’s farm effluent lagoon will be covered to capture its biogas emissions and the system monitored to determine methane concentration and volume
- The biogas shall be flared as at this stage it is a monitoring project - see ‘Notes Page’ for Background.
Creating an energy-neutral chain of production – The Netherlands
| Source : NZO (Nederlandse Zuivel Organisatie) |
One of the “icons” of the Sustainable Dairy Chain initiative is to create an energy-neutral chain of production from raw farm milk to the finished dairy product by 2020
- This means that 100% of the energy that is consumed by each of the different links in the chain must be generated within the chain itself
- The energy consumption of the Dutch dairy farming sector and dairy industry has been taken as the area of focus within the total energy consumption of the chain
- These two sectors together account for a consumption of 26.3 PJ. The goal can be achieved by using energy from sustainable sources that is produced within the chain, e.g. solar energy, wind energy or energy generated from biomass
The National goal is that 20% of the energy use is sustainable energy in 2020
- Currently on a National level 3,5% of the energy consumption in the Netherlands is sustainable produced (source CBS, statistics Netherlands)
At present the energy production of Dutch dairy farmers is 2.25 PJ. The energy is produced as power by windmills and green gas by anaerobic digestion
- So 8% of the total energy consumption of the dairy chain is already being produced by dairy farmers
Renewable energy: cradle to processing – The Netherlands
| Source : CONO Cheesemakers (CONO Kaasmakers) |
- All our farmers and both factories (CONO and Ben&Jerry’s) only use renewable energy sources
- In practice this means that we use green electricity (from renewable sources- not being nuclear energy) for our cheese factory, our ice-cream factory and all our 500 farmers
- Furthermore we have invested in a compensation program that helps a Tapioca based starch manufacturing plant to reduce methane emissions
- The reduction of methane emissions as a result of our investments in this Wastewater Treatment with Biogas Production is equal to our CO2 emissions form the natural gas use of our Cheese factory and all our 500 dairy farmers.
- This means that we produce our cheese CO2-neutral. In the future the energy use in our production chain will be produced by our dairy farmers.
Israel – biogas facilities
| Source : Israel Dairy Board |
In 1999, a reform package was initiated in the dairy sector, which continued until 2007. The main aims of the reform are as follows:
- Encouraging dairy producers to become larger, more competitive and more efficient
- Preventing pollution from dairy farms and protecting the country's water sources by upgrading cowsheds and establishing environmental infrastructure
One of the major achievements of reform was:
- Development of biogas facilities, which utilize cattle manure for renewable energy generation
- With the completion of the planned facilities, about a third of Israel's cows will produce renewable energy in addition to milk
Long-Term Agreements on energy Efficiency (LTA) – The Netherlands
| Source : NZO (Nederlandse Zuivel Organisatie) |
- LTA is a covenant of the Dutch government and various industrial sectors. The Dutch dairy processing industry has joined LTA from the start in the Early 1990’s
- In 2008 LTA 3 has been signed for the period 2009 up to 2020. The dairy companies have committed themselves to achieve an improvement of energy efficiency of 2% per annum, totalling 30% in 2020 in comparison to 2005
- Every company drafts an energy conservation plan for every 4 year period for each of the 52 dairy plants
- The plan links the efficiency goals to concrete measures and an implementation plan
- Companies are obliged to implement measures that can be recouped in less than five years
- Participants in LTA submit a progress report every year. Results are monitored by a Government Agency (SenterNovem)
- The Dairy Industry has achieved an energy efficiency improvement of 11.8 % over the last 10 years (2.7% in 2007; 2% in 2009).
- As a result of this the sector has avoided emission of 23 Kilotons of CO2 per year. The use of sustainable energy by the processing industry has increased from 1% in 2007 to 2.5% in 2008
Use of renewable energy in plants - France
| Source : IDF National Committee of France |
Context
The main sources of energy used in the dairy industry are: electricity, gas, fuel.
Action
Setting up wood-fired boilers for production of saturated steam, hot water and air, heat pumps, solar panel
Impact
Wood-fired boilers (when removal of forest resources is lower than natural growth), heat pumps and solar panels have no effect on GHG emission
Management of greenhouse gas emission quota - France
| Source : IDF National Committee of France |
Context
Since 1st of January 2005 the European Union set up a greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme for companies (if thermic power> 20 megawatt)
Action
- Review by company of their energy policy:
- investment in equipment using less energy,
- optimization of breakdown boilers,
- investment in alternative energy: wood-fired boilers,…
Leader
Each company spurred on by the “ National Plan for quota allowance” (PNAQ)
Calendar
Since 2005, ongoing
Impact
Around 40 dairy companies concerned in 2005, only 23 today
Use of renewable energies - France
| Source : IDF National Committee of France |
Context
The European Directive on Renewable energies sets an objective of 20% of renewable energies by 2020.
Action
Feasibility study on the use of certain types of equipment (such as solar water-heater, solar fodder drying, biomass boiler, heat pump, methanisation units…) on dairy farms, depending on farms and regions
Leader
Institut de l’Elevage, in progress on dairy farms
Calendar
2009-2013
Impact
A first call for projects for methanisation units was launched in April 2009, within the context of the “Energetic performance plan”: 83 projects were selected
Oakhurst Dairy taps solar energy and hot water recovery - USA
| Source : Innovation Center For US Dairy |
Driven by rising fuel prices and a growing concern for the environment Oakhurst Dairy, in the spring of 2008 installed the largest commercial solar thermal systems in northeastern USA:
- Seventy-two panels were installed on approximately 2,500 square feet of its headquarters in Portland, Maine.
When the sun is shining, the panels preheat water to temperaturs as hot as 110°F. By reducing the energy required to heat water for case washing (150°F to 160°F) the system reduces the company’s heating oil consumption by more than 5,000 gallons per year.
- An extension of the project includes a hot water recovery system attached to the case wash to recycle back into the solar panels. Records show that Oakhurst saves an additional 2,500 gallons of heating oil per year at a minimum.
The payback period is estimated at eight years based on a minimum of 7,500 gallons of No. 2 heating oil per year at $2.40 per gallon.
Mrs. Rutere’s biogas story: double benefit from dairying for Embu Dairy Cooperative Society - Kenya
| Source : Land O’Lakes |
Embu Dairy Cooperative Society (DCS) started with 139 members to help in creating efficiencies that would ease their burdens of school fees and other requirements by collecting and marketing milk, initially at 400 liters per day. Today, with approximately 3000 active members, the society collects between 7,500 liters and 11,000 liters per day. This is as a result of intensive capacity-building by KDDP on artificial insemination (A.I.), planting the right fodders, and feed conservation, clean milk handling and zero-grazing systems, which allowed members to utilize their farms more intensively. However, the members have developed other grand ideas- BIOGAS!
Mrs. Rutere is one of Embu DCS’s progressive women dairy farmers, rearing three cows in a zero-grazing unit. Through KDDP, she has received considerable training on animal husbandry, as well as support from Embu DCS through their extension officer, Mr. Gichohi.
To cater for her home’s monthly energy needs, Mrs. Rutere used to spend Ksh. 2700 (38 USD) per month on energy. Since installing the biogas unit, her monthly expenditure for energy has gone down by 50 percent.
Biogas (and organic fertiliser) initiative: Parana, Brazil
| Source : FAEP |
Fazenda Iguaçu
1) Nome do projeto: Star Milk - Sustentabilidade e Eficiência na Produção
2) Local (região) de execução: Comunidade de Nova União, Município de Céu Azul, Estado do PR - Brazil.
3) O que está sendo feito, o que mudou: A fazenda Iguaçu tem 1180 ha, dos quais 1000 são destinados à agricultura (milho, soja, girassol) e 180 são destinados à produção de leite dos quais, 15 são utilizados pelas benfeitorias e 165 por pastagens e lavouras para silagem. Possui um rebanho de 1420 animais da raça holandesa, sendo 720 vacas em lactação. Produz 20 mil litros de leite dia.
Foi construído um sistema de tratamento de dejetos com um biodigestor, que produz biogás e fertilizante orgânico. O biogás é utilizado para gerar a energia elétrica utilizada na propriedade e o excedente é vendido para a companhia de energia elétrica Copel. Com isso a propriedade reduz o uso de energia de origem fóssil, que foi substituída pela energia renovável. O fertilizante orgânico é utilizado na ferti-irrigação das lavouras e pastagens, substituindo a necessidade de fertilizantes químicos.
A propriedade ainda possui uma mini-usina de produção de biodiesel, com capacidade para produzir 3 mil litros/dia a partir de girassol. Esse biodiesel é utilizado nas máquinas e caminhões da propriedade, numa mistura de 30% de biodiesel e 70% de diesel comum. A torta de girassol é utilizada na ração para o rebanho leiteiro.
4) Quem são os beneficiários: Produtores rurais, funcionários da fazenda e comunidade em geral. A fazenda também é intensivamente utilizada por produtores rurais, universidades e estudantes para treinamentos, estágios e dias de campo.
5) Impactos percebidos = (principalmente do ponto de vista ambiental), mas sem esquecer os impactos sociais e econômicos: Do ponto de vista ambiental, a redução de consumo de energia de origem fóssil por energia renovável e a redução do consumo de fertilizantes químicos resultou em grandes benefícios. Também reduziu-se a contaminação do meio ambiente por dejetos, pois agora os resíduos são tratados com biodigestão anaeróbica e o biofertilizante apresenta potencial poluidor significativamente reduzido. As emissões de metano da fermentação são captados no biodigestor e queimados para gerar energia. O metano tem um potencial para causar efeito estufa que é 21 vezes superior ao do dióxido de carbono (CO2). Do ponto econômico, o projeto reduz os custos de produção e a lucratividade das atividades, o que mantém a viabilidade da propriedade com geração de empregos e renda.
Investing in renewable energy - Casa de Lata, Colombia
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Investing in renewable energy - La Maria, Colombia
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Energy savings in processing - New Zealand
| Source : Fonterra |
34 per cent reduction (2009) in energy use per tonne of product since 1990
New Zealand processing inter-site ‘Emissions Account’ – a virtual carbon trading system, to raise employee awareness and track progress of emission reductions
Targeted energy efficiency initiative in place since 2003/04
Energy savings achieved through:
- monitoring and targeting
- heat recovery projects
- changed operating conditions
- new technology – co-generation facilities
