The Clean Technology Centre has been involved in the Smart Farming programme being led by the IFA and which is funded by the EPA.
CTC has provided input in terms of energy and water resource efficiency potential on farms. This involved participating in some of the on-site cost savings studies on farms in 2013 and 2014, as well as some of the discussion groups for farmers to discuss the results.
CTC also trained a number of agri-advisers on how to assess the energy savings potential on farms. A presentation on potential energy savings for farmers was made to several hundred farmers in Portlaoise in November 2014.
The Smart Farming programme focuses on eight key areas that offer the greatest savings to farmers and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions at farm level. The programme aims to save participants €5,000 through introducing resource efficiency measures on their farm.
It is a free service and farmers who join receive a free resource efficiency assessment with tailored advice from an agronomist for their farm business. They also receive a cost-saving study, silage quality analysis, domestic water analysis, carbon navigator and nutrient management plan free of charge.