Agricultural Recommendations
AGRICULTURAL (FARMING AND RANCHING)
Energy Use
Ranches and farms use large quantities of electric
energy for pumping liquids, moving air, and for
controlling the temperatures of animals and products
such as meat and milk. In many cases, substantial
savings are available by incorporating modern control
techniques and technologies into operations on the ranch
or farm.
Measures that are frequently found to be
cost-effective include the following:
Irrigation
Water and electricity are both precious commodities
in Utah and some conservation methods contribute to
saving both.
- Use large diameter pipes (e.g., 12-inch rather
than 10-inch) to reduce friction.
- Convert from high-pressure top impact sprinklers
to low-pressure systems. If using a low-pressure
system, adjust spray heads and patterns to match crop
growth.
- Match motors to pumps carefully; over-sizing
wastes money and energy.
- Use premium-efficiency motors. They save energy,
run cooler, and last longer.
- Use variable-frequency drives with pump motors to
facilitate optimizing efficiency with changing
irrigation flow requirements.
- Repair and replace nozzles and regulators to
achieve even crop growth and save energy and water.
Learn more on the
Irrigation Energy Efficiency Measures page.
Overall
- White surfaces on the insides of barns and chicken coops reflect light and
lessen the need for electric lighting. The result is an improved visual
environment for both people and animals—and lower lighting bills for the
farmer.
- Install compact fluorescent bulbs in place of incandescent bulbs.
- Replace fluorescent fixtures using T-12 lamps with T-8 or T-5 fixtures and
electronic ballasts.
- Use simple timers or similar lighting controls that may be over-ridden
when necessary.
- Install ventilation fans with high-efficiency, long-lasting cast-aluminum
blades.
- Use premium-efficiency motors on all systems that run more than 30 minutes
per day.
- Install CO2 sensors to control ventilation fans and maintain good air
quality.
Dairy
- Cooling milk quickly after milking can involve high peak demand loads and
charges if conventional refrigeration equipment is employed. Cooling water in
an insulated container over a longer period, perhaps using a cooling tower,
can lower peaks and save money while cooling milk even more quickly than
conventional cooling techniques. Milk can be chilled using a double-wall
stainless steel heat exchanger whose secondary loop accesses the cooling
energy associated with the chilled water. Some systems also use a second heat
exchanger in the chilled water tank to minimize the risk of contamination and
lower pump power needs due to the resulting closed loop system.
Refrigeration
- Install floor insulation in coolers. The floors of some walk-in
refrigerators on farms are simply concrete slabs which are neither insulated
from the ground underneath nor around their edges. Retrofitting these with
floor insulation improves cooler efficiency.
- Use efficient lighting in refrigerators and save twice: this retrofit
lowers the electricity use for both lighting and cooling.
Learn more on the
Refrigeration Energy Efficiency Measures page.
Anaerobic Digestion and Combined Heat and Power
- Concentrated animal feeding operations including
hog farms, dairy farms, cattle feedlots, and poultry
producers can use their animal waste as a “free fuel”
for a combined heat and power (CHP) system, thus
turning a cost into a benefit. An anaerobic digester
produces methane, which is then fed into a CHP system
to produce electricity for any on-farm needs. The heat
from the CHP system can be fed back into the digester
to maintain the process temperature, and/or used for
any other on-farm purpose (including space heating,
water heating, or air conditioning). Anaerobic
digesters eliminate odors, kill harmful pathogens, and
produce co-products that can be marketed separately
for fertilizers or bedding material.
Learn more about CHP on the
CHP Energy
Efficiency Measures page, or by visiting the website
of the
Intermountain CHP Center. The Center works in the
areas of project support and facilitation, education and
outreach, market assessment, policy review, and
coalition building. Visit the
Intermountain CHP Buyer’s Guide website to access
information about vendors, contractors, and distributors
who can turn your project idea into reality.
Assistance
Utah Power has a host of programs targeted to
meeting its customer’s energy efficiency needs. Visit
the
Utah Power profile page by
clicking here. |
