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Workshop Summary

Ralph E H Sims
Director, Centre for Energy Research, Massey University

• Many of the papers presented at the workshop identified exciting “new” opportunities for land use, energy supply and increased farm revenues. However many of the “new” technologies discussed including biogas, ethanol from ligno-cellulose, and hydrogen production have been under evaluation in New Zealand and elsewhere for at least 25 years. Earlier research reports should be reviewed.
• New Zealand is renowned for its innovative “Number 8 wire” approach to problem solving. The Whispergen technology, superconductors, variable speed milk vacuum pumps, heat exchangers and numerous inventions at the National Agricultural Fieldays each year exemplify this. Thus many business opportunities prevail in the sector for developing energy efficient technologies with export potential and carbon trading possibilities.
• Energy use on farms has been an on-going topic since the 1970s when Ian McChesney and others at Lincoln College, Massey and elsewhere produced numerous reports for the NZ Energy Research and Development Committee and Liquid Fuels Trust Board. The level of investment in R&D has been far lower in recent times, being around 20% of what it was then as a result of the sudden global oil price rises.
• As well as cost savings, new drivers are now in place to encourage energy efficiency including environmental impact minimization, sustainable production and climate change mitigation. Hence it is timely to review the need for wise energy use on farms. The key is to match dollar savings from reduced energy bills with co-benefits (such as improved animal health, time saving and soil conditioning) to obtain good uptake by farmers.
• There is a need to create greater awareness of the issues which remain poorly understood by many – even though the industry stands to lose most from possible climate change impacts. Avoiding the pending carbon charge by saving current energy costs seems to be a good message to impart.
• Access to useful information specifically for farmers and growers was raised several times during discussions. Feedback systems on energy use using meters and benchmarking against other similar producers (in terms of GJ/tonne of grain or MJ/kg milk solids or kWh/cow/year) could be useful means of educating farmers how to improve their energy demand.
• International linkages were noted by several speakers as being worthwhile due to the benefits of obtaining information from significant overseas research investment. For a small country, New Zealand has relatively good links with IPCC, IEA, APEC, JREC etc and government officials have recently met to determine where the priorities for international collaboration should be. Greater involvement by industry (such as the NZ Business Council of Sustainable Development becoming the operating agent for the IEA Hydrogen Activity) should be encouraged.

Key messages

1. There are opportunities for most agricultural industry sub-sectors to avoid the pending carbon charge by using energy more wisely whilst remaining internationally competitive.
2. A wide range of new, energy efficient technologies are currently being evaluated. Those with good potential need to be demonstrated, monitored and measured if they are to be taken up by the industry in the short term. Farmers are renowned for looking over the fence and being conservative in this regard. Local manufacturers of innovative concepts and technologies that show good energy saving potential could also produce considerable future export earnings.
3. Farmers and growers are busy people with priorities for the health and welfare of their animals, quality of production and good husbandry methods. They will only be seriously interested in reducing their energy demands if they can clearly see that co-benefits are to be obtained along with some cost savings.
4. A greater awareness by the industry is needed of the possible threat of trade barriers being brought in due to the embodied energy and associated greenhouse gas emissions resulting from delivery of New Zealand products into various markets (such as has already been the case with apples and beef into Germany).

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