Keeping energy costs down on the farm
The energy crisis will have significant impact on agriculture, especially food production, according to Gailbraith.
The energy crisis will have significant impact on agriculture, especially food production, according to Gailbraith.
UK businesses are on track to pay four times the electricity price they did in 2020 according to independent energy research, analytics and consulting firm Cornwall Insight, and agricultural won’t escape the trend.
Farming is the UK’s eighth-biggest energy consumer, using 2.79m tonnes of oil equivalent, according to figures for 2015. Farmers will be looking for ways to reduce outgoings in the face of big price hikes resulting from supply chain problems as a result of the war in Ukraine.
On 21 September the Government announced a six-month support package effectively halving energy prices for businesses including farms and rural enterprises. Suppliers will reduce bills in pence per kilowatt hour for qualifying non-domestic customers and be reimbursed by the Government for the reduction in wholesale gas and electricity prices passed on.
But there are concerns about both the effectiveness of these measures and the cost to taxpayers – estimated to be in the tens of billions of pounds.
Alternative energy sources such as solar PV and wind as a replacement for fossil fuel-derived electricity are seeing big take-up due to concerns over greenhouse gas emissions plus rising utility prices and potential interruption to supply. Natural light can be converted to electricity on farm buildings to power lighting, cooling and machinery such as milking systems.
Progress in technology has made solar panels cheaper, and any excess power generated can be sold back into the grid.
