Summary

This project will address the RIRDC 2009-2014 R&D Plan by assisting farmers to adapt to climate change (including increasing electricity prices) and improve resource use efficiency by reducing farm electricity usage. It will also enhance the industry’s modest carbon footprint by investing in energy use efficiency. Information gathered during this project will support and encourage producers to make informed decisions in relation to the replacement of inefficient ventilation fans.

The project will be conducted in two stages. Stage 1 will involve a detailed desktop assessment to quantify the economic feasibility (energy savings and payback period) of replacing inefficient ventilation fans with high efficiency models based on actual fan activity, shed static pressure and ventilation rate data data collected in previous RIRDC project PRJ-000599 ‘Monitoring mechanical ventilation rates in poultry buildings (2008)’. Strategies to replace all fans or some of the most used fans on a shed will be considered.

Stage 2 will be an on-farm trial to demonstrate and confirm the benefits of replacing fans on real broiler sheds. This stage of the project will only proceed if the desktop analysis predicts a tangible economic benefit for producers and if a producer can be found who is willing to upgrade their fans for an on-farm trial. Two strategies will be tested: (1) replacing all fans on the shed; and (2) replacing only the most used fans (e.g. 50% of the fans on the shed).

Program

Chicken Meat

Research Organisation

The State of Queensland acting through the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries

Objective Summary

The objective of this project is to quantify the energy and cost savings of replacing some or all of the inefficient tunnel ventilation fans on a broiler shed with higher efficiency models.