Dairy cattle – Reduce electricity use

Reduce electricity use

System: Dairy cattle

Mainly applicable for: All farms.

Description

Saving electricity use for on-farm processes, such as storage and processing of farm products, and feeding and milking of animals. This can be done by installing energy-efficient techniques or reducing energy-demanding activities. In dairy farming usually about 80 % of electricity is linked to milking, cooling and washing. Energy-saving techniques, such as pre-cooling, heat recovery, optimized milk tank or frequency controlled devices, can reduce up to 50 % the electricity consumption. In the energy-efficient milk tank, compressor and condensor activity are matching milk quantity and room temperature, to control electrical energy requirements. Besides more energy-efficient devices, good placement and proper size of devices are important.

Mechanism of effect

Power plants burn fossil fuels, coal or gas to produce electricity. This combustion releases carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other gases into the atmosphere. Also fossil fuel extraction and transport, and electricity transmission are causing emissions. Saving on electricity use for on-farm processes means less demand for electricity and less CO₂ emission. The effect on the farm level is depending on the combination of the different solutions, which will allow a large decrease of electricity consumption. Solutions to reduce electricity use will have less impact on GHG emissions when renewable or low-carbon energy is used in the reference situation.

Reference situation

Average European grid mix. No energy-efficient techniques installed.

Legend

● – Small effect (<5%)	o – No effect	o – no effect
●● – Medium effect (5-20%)	● – Unfavourable effect	? – unknown effect
●●● – Large effect (>20%)	● – ● – Variable effect (depending on farm characteristics or way/level of implementation)

Effect on total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (kg CO2-eq)

	per kg product		per farm (absolute)		Level of evidence
	Mean	(min-max)	Mean	(min-max)
Milk tank pre-cooling	●	●–●	●	●–●	High
Heat recovery on milk tank	●	●–●	●	●–●	High
Install energy-efficient milk tank	●	●–●	●	●–●	High

Effect per emission source

	Source	Manure storage		Animals	Feed and forage production			Barn
	Gas	CH₄	N₂O	CH₄	CO₂	N₂O	LUC	CO₂
Milk tank pre-cooling								●●
Heat recovery on milk tank								●●
Install energy-efficient milk tank								●●●

*risk of an adverse effect (see ’cause of variable or unfavourable effect’)

Explanation of variable effect

Milk tank pre-cooling

The effect depends on the efficiency of the pre-cooler and energy use in the reference situation. The solution will be less effective when renewable or low carbon energy is used in the reference situation (for example, due to a low-carbon electricity grid mix).

Heat recovery on milk tank

The effect depends on the efficiency of the heat recovery and energy use in the reference situation. The solution will be less effective when renewable or low carbon energy is used in the reference situation (for example, due to a low-carbon electricity grid mix).

Install energy-efficient milk tank

The effect depends on the efficiency of the new milk tank and energy use in the reference situation. The solution will be less effective when renewable or low carbon energy is used in the reference situation (for example, due to a low-carbon electricity grid mix).