March 15, 2009
Program helps growers conserve energy
Ag Energy Services, a division of Ag Energy Co-operative, has announced a new full-service conservation and efficiency program aimed to help growers, farmers and producers improve sustainability through energy improvement and management.
It is estimated that the program could save around $80 million for the agriculture sector through reductions in energy use and improved energy efficiency.
The program has four major modules:
“We are very excited about this program,” says Mike Bouk, executive director of Ag Energy Co-operative. “The economic challenges we all face hit agriculture especially hard. This program will help farmers capture a portion of the $80 million by energy cost reductions or avoided costs and improve their own sustainability.”
The program allows customers to implement the full program of all four modules or have the modules customized one at a time to suit their needs. In either case, Ag Energy Services handles the headaches and collaborates with the customer to ensure they are pleased with the results
Initially the program will help greenhouses and will continue to roll out across Ontario to every sector of agriculture over the next year.
Funding for this project was provided in part by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) Advancing Agriculture and Agri-Food Program through the Agricultural Adaptation Council’s CanAdvance Program, and also in part by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).
Ag Energy Services is a division of Ag Energy Co-operative offering a full range of energy and environmental management programs. This division will help the Ontario agricultural and agri-food sector develop strategies to optimize energy costs.
For more information contact Chris Hanlon at Ag Energy Services, in Guelph, at 866-818-8828, ext. 242, e-mail chanlon@agenergy.coop.
It is estimated that the program could save around $80 million for the agriculture sector through reductions in energy use and improved energy efficiency.
The program has four major modules:
- Energy analysis and auditing – to understand the customer’s energy use, benchmark performance and identify the improvements
- Energy action plans – to align energy conservation and improvement projects into the business plans of the customer, arrange financing and secure government conservation incentives
- Implementation – to ensure equipment upgrades and operational changes are implemented according to customer’s needs and government certifications
- Carbon Management – will provide a potential revenue stream back to the customers through the sale or trading of carbon credits where customers reduce their carbon footprint
“We are very excited about this program,” says Mike Bouk, executive director of Ag Energy Co-operative. “The economic challenges we all face hit agriculture especially hard. This program will help farmers capture a portion of the $80 million by energy cost reductions or avoided costs and improve their own sustainability.”
The program allows customers to implement the full program of all four modules or have the modules customized one at a time to suit their needs. In either case, Ag Energy Services handles the headaches and collaborates with the customer to ensure they are pleased with the results
Initially the program will help greenhouses and will continue to roll out across Ontario to every sector of agriculture over the next year.
Funding for this project was provided in part by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) Advancing Agriculture and Agri-Food Program through the Agricultural Adaptation Council’s CanAdvance Program, and also in part by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).
Ag Energy Services is a division of Ag Energy Co-operative offering a full range of energy and environmental management programs. This division will help the Ontario agricultural and agri-food sector develop strategies to optimize energy costs.
For more information contact Chris Hanlon at Ag Energy Services, in Guelph, at 866-818-8828, ext. 242, e-mail chanlon@agenergy.coop.