On-farm energy opportunities

Our preferred future

On-farm energy intensity of production (kWh/unit of production) for each enterprise is trending below baseline levels.

How we will work together

Led by industry, supported by government

• Promote or develop tools for producers to better understand renewable on-farm energy options and how to prepare their on-farm infrastructure to connect to new energy opportunities

Led by government, supported by industry

• Engage across the major energy and fuel programs to maximise opportunities for agricultural production and supply chain.

What you can do now

• Be aware of alternative fuels and electricity infrastructure that help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
• Develop a business plan to introduce renewable energy and storage opportunities that increase energy efficiency and complement production systems.
• Understand the costs/savings and GHG impact of different renewable energy options to support decision-making and investment.
• As soon as possible, undertake an energy efficiency and GHG footprint as a baseline to track improvements and respond to planned business decisions.

Case study

Coolmunda Olives energy audit leads to big energy savings

Coolmunda Olives is a horticulture farm located in Inglewood that underwent an energy audit through the former Energy Savers Program to find out its energy consumption and recommend improvements.

The business has 8,000 trees and produces table olives and olive oil.

The farm is irrigated year-round using water from a nearby dam. Infrastructure contributing to energy consumption includes a large packing shed and a centrifugal dam pump.

The audit recommended replacing the dam pump to improve efficiencies and installing a ground-mounted solar system up to 16.5 kW in size at the dam pump.

It was expected these changes would result in an annual energy saving of 32,700 kWh, 26.3 tonnes of avoided CO2 and annual cost savings of $13,500.

They installed a 25.74 kW ground-mounted, grid-connected solar system at the pump site and achieved a 36,753 kWh annual energy saving, 29.8 tonnes of avoided CO2 and annual cost savings of $4,556. This equals a 123% energy saving for the business.

An energy audit is a great way for agribusinesses to assess how they can reduce their energy use, costs and carbon emissions.

Read about other farms that are saving money on their power bills and avoiding CO2 emissions.

Future priority focus areas for on-farm energy opportunities

The agriculture industry is actively working to reduce its carbon emissions. You can find more details about the programs run by both the industry and the government in our implementation plan.

The Queensland Low Emissions Agriculture Roadmap Stakeholder Advisory Committee has identified areas that require extra attention to achieve the roadmap's goals.

Short to medium term delivery

• Accelerated and coordinated extension effort, both face to face and using online resources, for known energy and fuel options
• Understanding and demonstration of the agriculture sector’s role in the renewable energy transformation – including cost–benefit and feasibility studies

Ongoing delivery

• Cross-sectoral and industry–government partnerships