How to Integrate Renewable Energy Into Agriculture
Climate KIC, through the HarvRESt project, is working with farmers, researchers, and innovators to demonstrate how renewable energy sources (RES) can be integrated into agriculture in ways that reduce emissions and open new economic opportunities.
Across Europe, farmers are facing a dual challenge: how to produce food sustainably while adapting to the growing impacts of climate change. Rising energy costs, shifting weather patterns, and increasing pressure on natural resources are testing the resilience of farming systems. That said, agriculture holds an untapped potential to lead Europe’s green transition, by reducing emissions, and also by producing clean energy itself.
A new role for farms in the energy transition
In the EU-27, fossil-fuel use accounts for around 17% of agricultural greenhouse-gas emissions. While this is not the largest share of the sector’s footprint, reducing it is vital to achieve climate neutrality. Renewable energy can help cut these emissions while also protecting farms from volatile energy markets and strengthening local energy security. What makes renewable energy in agriculture transformative is its potential to act on multiple systems at once: energy, food, land, and rural development. Building on the work with the HarvRESt project, Climate KIC identified six ways to integrate renewable energy into agriculture without compromising food production or biodiversity.
1. Wind energy: wind power offers farmers a stable source of clean energy and an opportunity to diversify income. The key lesson from the pilots is that context matters: turbine placement, crop selection, and local ecosystems all determine whether wind energy complements or conflicts with agricultural production. Locating turbines in high-wind areas improves efficiency while minimising disturbance to wildlife. Integrating turbines into grazing areas avoids competition for arable land, and partnerships with external investors can make projects financially viable for smaller farms. Hybrid systems that combine wind and solar are proving especially promising in ensuring reliable, round-the-clock energy supply.
2. Solar energy: solar technologies, particularly agrivoltaics, have huge potential to reshape the use of agricultural land. By positioning photovoltaic panels to allow sunlight to reach crops, farmers can generate electricity while maintaining or even improving yields. The agrivoltaic systems can enhance biodiversity, reduce water evaporation, and provide microclimate benefits. Tailoring installations to crop type and geography is essential, as is monitoring performance post-installation to manage technical and financial risks. The social dimension also matters: involving local communities and forming cooperatives helps build acceptance and spreads the benefits of clean energy more widely.
3. Biomass: using agricultural residues for biomass energy is the perfect example of circularity in action. When residues become feedstock for bioenergy rather than waste, farmers reduce disposal costs and cut methane emissions, while producing renewable heat or electricity. However, planning is crucial. Biomass systems must be aligned with farm operations to avoid competition with food production and ensure long-term sustainability. Done well, they help close nutrient loops, improve soil health, and create new local markets for by-products, all vital ingredients for a circular bioeconomy.
4. Hydropower and geothermal: where water resources or geothermal heat are available, micro-hydropower and geothermal systems can offer stable, localised energy. Integrating small turbines into existing irrigation networks, using Pump-as-Turbine (PAT) technologies, allows farmers to generate electricity without building large dams. In greenhouses, geothermal energy can provide low-cost, low-carbon heating year-round, especially when combined with heat pumps or irrigation systems for maximum efficiency. These site-specific solutions illustrate a key principle of HarvRESt: the right mix of technologies must reflect local geography, resources, and needs.
5. Knowledge, training, and cooperation: across all renewable systems, it is important to remember that people make the transition work. The effectiveness of renewable integration depends on farmers’ skills and confidence, as well as access to trusted information. Training is therefore essential. When farmers share ownership through energy cooperatives or local partnerships, they not only reduce individual risk but also build collective capacity for innovation. This social infrastructure is what turns technological potential into practical transformation.
6. Energy integration as part of whole-farm climate strategy: renewable energy must complement, not replace, other climate-smart farming practices. Integrating RES into a wider farm strategy, one that includes manure management, intermediate crops, and agroforestry, can amplify climate benefits. Together, these approaches cut emissions and enhance soil carbon sequestration, which also improves long-term productivity. This systems perspective is central to Climate KIC’s approach: innovation succeeds when it connects technical solutions with behavioural, financial, and policy change.
From best practices to systemic change
The lessons emerging from HarvRESt reveal that integrating renewable energy in agriculture is step toward a more resilient food system. By combining technological innovation with social learning and policy alignment, farms can evolve from passive energy users into active energy producers and community hubs for the clean-energy transition.
Share this page
