Public engagements

Relevant publications

Measurements and activities of PEALF

The Platform ‘Renewable Driving Energy for Agriculture and Forestry’ is a voluntary association of organisations, agricultural technology companies and scientific institutions that was launched in May 2016. The initiators and members have set up a central contact point (see also under Contact) to coordinate the joint measures.

The primary goal of this association is to increase the use of renewable driving energies in agriculture and forestry. In order to achieve this goal and a long-term success, the platform is focussing its activities on the following areas:

• Promoting the acceptance of the use of renewable driving energies in agriculture and forestry within the agricultural and forestry profession, the agricultural machinery industry as well as in politics, the public and society
• Promotion of the political, economic and technical framework conditions for renewable driving energies in agriculture and forestry
• Promotion of domestic biofuels in accordance with specified standards and a wide range of models of biofuel-compatible agricultural and forestry machinery.

At the same time, the platform's membership structure ensures a cross-industry alliance and intensive dialogue between the relevant trade associations and institutions, including politicians.

In order to achieve the goal of increasing the use of renewable driving energies in agriculture and forestry, the following measures are necessary and are practised within the framework of the platform:

• Information, knowledge transfer, counselling

  Gathering and spreading the knowledge and expertise by

  • Working out the mutual benefits (‘win-win situation’) for those involved
     
  • Advising farmers and foresters on the technical innovations of renewable driving energies, biofuel-compatible engines and flexible utilisation options (multifuel engines)
     
  • Specific industry communication also for dealers and workshops as important multipliers and opinion leaders
     
  • Providing information on the following aspects:

  - Positive aspects of biofuel utilisation: protein strategy, more independence in fuel supply, regional circular economy, ethical aspects   

  - Existing approvals, technical application rules, fuel quality requirements, fuel sourcing options

  - Results of current research and market launch projects (RapsTrak200, PraxTrak, field reports on the use of biodiesel, etc.)

  - Advice for decentralised oil mills on the production of high-quality fuel in accordance with the current DIN standard

• Implementation of regional initiatives

  Throughout Germany, different research projects prove to become best-practice examples, ready to be copy-pasted. Thus, our intention is the

  • Demonstration of renewable driving energies in the field, e.g. at state testing facilities (federal and state governments)
  • Presentation of model farms that implement the regional circular economy in an exemplary manner, from cultivation to fuel production and utilisation through to the protein strategy
  • Presentation of the available technologies and the platform at trade fairs and events
• Engine technology, standardisation, quality assurance

  Good is never good enough. Therefore, our partners and the Platform in general also dedicate themselves to

  • Research into the (further) development, testing and demonstration of biofuel-compatible engines in line with the updating of emissions legislation
  • Further development of fuel standards
  • Further development of quality assurance in fuel production and supply
  • Further development of e-mobility in the low-power range.

Renewable driving energies

There is no "one-Solution-fits-all"

Biofuels and the electrification of agricultural machineries are the first and, above all, currently the most effective step in terms of volume towards the necessary diversification and decarbonisation of the fuel supply in agricultural and forestry operations.

Options of renewable energies in the agricultural and forestry sectors

• Electric Energy

  The solution for lighter tasks or nearby activities

  The electrification of machinery engines is already possible for lighter work tasks and is increasingly being offered by agricultural technology. The decisive factor here is the generation of electrical energy using photovoltaic, wind energy or biogas plants owned by the company or located in the immediate region in order to actually use ‘green electricity’. The energy requirements for mobile machinery in agriculture could then be reduced by around 22 to 33 % overall due to the lower losses compared to internal combustion engine drives.

• Liquid biofuels

  When the same energy density as the one from diesel is required

  Liquid biofuels such as vegetable oil fuel and biodiesel, on the other hand, have an energy density similar to diesel. Therefore, these options are suitable for workloads in which the electrification is not possible due to heavier or heavy work as well as time intensive work durations. The risk of excessive production of biofuels from cultivated biomass due to demand from agriculture, which could lead to undesirable changes in land use, is very low. On the one hand, this is due to the already known consumption volumes of this sector, which are low in comparison to other transport sectors (in Germany an average of 2,000 million litres of diesel fuel). Secondly, the extensive electrification, e.g. of passenger cars, means that quantities of biofuels are expected to be available in the future that are currently used for blending and can then be refuelled specifically in the agricultural sector as pure fue

• Paraffinic diesel fuels

  Same same, but different

  Paraffinic diesel fuels such as HVO diesel and Fischer-Tropsch diesel from biomass (BtL) or based on electrical energy (PtL) are ideal renewable energy sources for today's diesel-powered fleet. Not only their energy density is comparable to diesel, but also the chemical composition. Thus, they can already be used in those machines officially approved by the motor producers. Most companies have already approved their stage-V-motors for the use of HVO.

  New vehicles should preferably be fuelled with fuels that are readily available in the agricultural sector in order to reduce competition for paraffinic fuels and take advantage of the benefits that vegetable oil fuel and biodiesel can bring to agriculture.

   

• Gas-based fuels

  From waste to energy

  Renewable compressed methane (CNG) and liquefied methane (LNG) are the ideal solution for farms with a biogas plant in the immediate vicinity. By adding a processing plant and a corresponding fuelling station, fuel for CNG and LNG tractors can be produced from manure, slurry and residual materials.

• Hydrogen

  The fuel of the future?

  As things stand, hydrogen in combustion engines or fuel cells is not yet a preferable option for agricultural applications, as the necessary infrastructure (storage and refuelling) is too complex and cost intensive.

• More information

  Dive in deeper into profound, scientific information regarding all renewable energy options

  Do you want to learn more about the options for renewable energies in the agriculture and forestry sectore?

  We highly recomend the publication of the Kuratorium für Technik und Bauwesen in der Landwirtschaft e. V. (KTBL) Kuratorium, which was released in 2024. Here, you can learn more about the possibilities, requirements and eventual obstacles,- depending on the individual situation.

  "Use of renewable drive energy in agricultural machinery"

The members of our Platform

Currently, following members play part of the Platform:

Other initiators and supporters of the industry platform are:

Get in touch with us

Do you have questions or are you interested in a collaboration?

Head of the office

Bernd Geisen
Bundesverband Bioenergie e.V. (BBE)
Maarstraße 84
D-53227 Bonn

Constanze Gohlke
Bundesverband Dezentraler Ölmühlen und Pflanzenöltechnik e.V. (BDOel)
Am Dörrenhof 13a
85131 Preith - Pollenfeld

Mail: vasb@rearhreone-gnaxra.qr