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Energy Efficiency-Cut Costs and Energy Use
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Maine canola grown for biofuel.
- Photo by Peter Sexton |
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Fifteen percent of agricultural production costs are energy related,
according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) – and
as energy prices rise, these costs claim an ever-bigger portion
of farm budgets. The quickest, cheapest and cleanest way to lower
these costs, as well as cut non-renewable energy consumption, is
by improving energy efficiency.
Energy Efficiency - Upgrade Machinery and Equipment
Simple procedures, such as keeping tractor tires properly inflated
and engines tuned, can go a long way toward saving fuel. Clogged
air and fuel filters and injectors burn more fuel, as do motors
or engines with rusty or corroded parts, worn bearings, loose belt
drives and clogged condenser coils. Dirty fans can be up to 40 percent
less efficient.
Replacing incandescent bulbs with fluorescents not only reduces
energy use, but saves farmers money far beyond the original investment.
An energy audit on a Maryland poultry farm, for example, found that
switching the farm’s 40- and 60-watt incandescent light bulbs
to five-watt cold cathode fluorescent bulbs required an initial
outlay of $2,168, but would save the farmer $2,658 per year in energy
costs. Given the bulbs’ 5–8 year life span, this farmer
can expect total savings of $11,000-$18,000.
Modifying irrigation systems can also reduce energy and costs.
According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS),
in certain areas of the U.S., switching from high- to low-pressure
sprinkler systems can save about $55 and 770 kWh per acre annually.
In areas where ground and surface water is diminishing, efficient
irrigation tools such as drip, trickle and lower-flow sprinkler
systems save energy, water and money.
Dairy farms’ heavy reliance on electricity – mostly
for collecting and cooling milk, heating water and lighting –
provides many energy conservation opportunities. The Massachusetts-based
Center for Ecological Technology (CET), which received a SARE grant
to implement energy conservation measures, conducted an audit for
dairy farmer Randy Jordan, showing him how much he could save with
a variable speed drive. Variable speed drives use sensors to adjust
pump capacity to demand, thus doubling efficiency and lowering expenses
50–80 percent. They cost from $1,800 for a five-horsepower
(3.7 kW) to $7,400 for a 30-horsepower (22.4 kW) unit. But the significant
energy savings for Jordan – as much as $4,750 per year –
allow for a quick payback, from six months to four years.
Plate coolers – simple heat exchangers that take the heat
from warm milk and transfer it to cold well- or pipe-water –
are also excellent energy savers. According to Florida Cooperative
Extension, plate coolers can save a 500-cow dairy farm as much as
$2,000 per year in electricity costs or $750 in LP gas costs.
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