IMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY According to the Swiss Farmers’ Union (SFU), each year, the average Swiss farm consumes 20,000 kWh of electricity and 4,000 litres of diesel, along with various other fossil fuels, depending on the sector in which it operates. Improving energy efficiency is therefore a must, and an avenue with considerable potential. The SFU has thrown its hat into the ring, using the AgroCleanTech platform to encourage farmers to be more energy efficient, use renewable energy and help minimise climate change. On the subject of energy efficiency, with the support of SwissEnergy, the cantons of western Switzerland and the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture, the energy consultant AgroCleanTech has launched the AgriPEIK programme. It has also set up – and continues to run – several programmes supported by ProKilowatt (an initiative of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy) designed to reduce the electricity consumption of Swiss farms. These include a programme to improve the energy efficiency of piglet nests and another designed to recover the heat produced when cooling milk. The latter project involved installing around 240 frequency converters on milking machinery, resulting in a cumulative electricity saving of more than 11 GWh. Agricultural land can also provide space suitable for generating renewable energy, so in the long term, farmers may end up farming energy too! A large number of farms have already erected vast ranks of photovoltaic panels on their land. «The farming industry has understood it has a part to play. Energy generation will provide a huge boost for agriculture,» says Professor Daniel Favrat of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)8. Insolight (Canton of Vaud) is a company operating in what is known as the agrivoltaic sector. Insolight is using concentrator technology to develop high-yield solar panels that are transparent. This technology, which allows for varying the density of the shade generated, makes it possible to grow plants directly underneath the panels, increasing the surface area available for exploiting solar energy. The idea is to construct solar power plants without making the farmland unusable for crops, leaving sufficient room for tractors to drive underneath the panels.
28 EXISTING AND FUTURE SOLUTIONS
BEM in Monthey (Canton of Valais) is marketing what it calls solar power containers: modular, mobile 15kW energy generation units housed in containers fitted with batteries that make the user energy self-sufficient. The unit’s electronics make it possible to plug in other renewable energy sources such as wind and hydroelectric power too, and because it features a simple set-up with photovoltaic modules, the unit can be up and running, or packed away, in just half an hour. This solution is ideal for farmers, who can use it to ventilate a stable or dry hay for example, and it is also very useful in mountain summer pastures, where it can replace conventional generators. In addition to its use in mountainous areas, this system’s flexibility makes it a particularly attractive option for farms remote from any electricity grid, such as on an island or in parts of North Africa. Swiss Intech, a company based in La Tour-de-Peilz (Canton of Vaud) has developed Pumpilo, a solar-powered water pump that can draw water more than 100 metres vertically using a power output of just tens of watts. This solution is ideal for use in irrigation and domestic water supply in developing countries. It is also suitable for continuous water pumping, in mountain summer pastures for example. Ennos (Canton of Bern) is likewise developing a solar pump for use in irrigation and domestic water supply. These low-tech – and, more importantly, portable – solutions are eminently suitable for farmers in developing countries. In this area, Swiss expertise is making its mark abroad. The Fribourg-based company Allani Sunlife Holding has specia-lised in developing solar-powered dryers that are used on organic farms in North Africa, for example.
