RES4LIVE – Progress on pilot systems for energy smart livestock farming towards zero fossil fuel consumption

The utilization of fossil fuels in agriculture has elevated its status as a significant contributor to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, thereby impacting global climate change and posing a potential threat to food security. A major contributor to these emissions is intensive livestock farming, a highly energy-consuming sub-sector heavily dependent on fossil fuels. This practice requires a diverse range of energy sources, including electricity and thermal energy for heating and cooling indoor livestock facilities, equipment operation, lighting, and ventilation. The European Union (EU) recognizes the urgent need for sustainable livestock production and fossil-free husbandry facilities. The H2020 RES4LIVE project aims to eliminate fossil fuel consumption in certain areas of industrial livestock farming by introducing cost-effective Renewable Energy Sources (RES) technologies. The focus is on advanced, economically attractive solutions with low maintenance, operational flexibility, and enhanced thermal comfort for animals. Decreasing costs and improved reliability of RES technologies provide an opportunity for farmers to achieve energy self-sufficiency and transition away from fossil fuels. The project showcases and evaluates various innovative RES technologies on four European pilot farms with swine, dairy cattle, and laying hens. These interventions aim to demonstrate the feasibility of achieving fossil-free energy farming sustainably.

The study presents the installation process of the most distinctive integrated systems in the four pilot farms and provides performance results obtained after the first months of their operation. Specifically, the systems highlighted include the (i) PVT/heat pump of the EV ILVO swine farm in Belgium, (ii) PVT/geothermal storage/heat pump of the GOLINELLI swine farm in Italy, (iii) PV/heat pump in the laying hens AUA farm in Greece, and (iv) biogas upgrading to biomethane, and the retrofitted tractor designed for biomethane utilization in the LVAT dairy farm in Germany. The results add to the existing knowledge on incorporating RES into livestock systems and provide valuable perspectives on the adaptability of the studied systems for use in commercial facilities.