Integrating Food and Energy Production on Farmland

How combining renewable energy and farming supports sustainable systems

What if your farm could grow food and produce clean energy at the same time? This course explores the innovative ways farmers are combining crops and livestock with solar panels and biogas systems. You’ll understand how more sustainable and resilient farms can be created.

You’ll see how technologies like agrivoltaics and biogas fit alongside traditional farming, discover what works (and what doesn’t), and understand the real benefits and challenges farmers face when integrating energy production into their operations.

Agrivoltaics, biogas, and how they work on working farms

Investigate how solar panels and biogas systems coexist with crops and livestock on real farms.

You’ll understand the ecological and technical benefits, explore the challenges, and see how these green energy systems impact the whole farm ecosystem from soil health to food production.

Learning from farmers: real case studies and practical insights

Hear directly from farmers who’ve tried it. You’ll explore real case studies of agrivoltaics and anaerobic digestion in action, learn what policies and support are available, and understand how communities can help make these innovations successful and sustainable in the long term.

Policy, sustainability, and the bigger picture

You’ll explore how combining food and energy production can cut carbon emissions, strengthen rural communities, and build a more resilient future. Learn how policies and regulations shape what’s possible on farms and explore the legislation that influences renewable energy adoption and understand the true sustainability impact.

The course is for a general audience, but if you’re a farmer there will be opportunity to reflect on your farming system. It will also be useful for farm advisors, researchers, and policymakers exploring sustainable farming and renewable energy solutions.

The course is for a general audience, but if you’re a farmer there will be opportunity to reflect on your farming system. It will also be useful for farm advisors, researchers, and policymakers exploring sustainable farming and renewable energy solutions.

• Apply knowledge of renewable energy technologies to agricultural and farm systems
• Appraise the relevance of agrivoltaic and biogas technologies in an arable farming system
• Identify key benefits and unintended consequences of the technologies associated with the integration of food and energy production on farmland
• Analyse information and data to support the integration of food and energy production and reflect on own situation / own farm
• Recognise the importance of achieving sustainability goals (environmental, social and economic) when integrating food and energy production