Pig farms use energy to grind or mill feed for the animals on the farm. Examining motor efficiency and changing to high efficiency motors can provide energy savings.

Feed mills are one of the main sources of energy use on pig farms. Setup of the mill is important, as using inefficient motors or belt drives can cause the system to use more energy than necessary to perform milling.

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Because of the regular load required for electricity and the structures on the farm, pig farms are good candidates for solar PV installations. As with most of the other farm types, an important step is to examine electricity purchasing agreements, and ensure that the farm is on the best possible rate.

Other opportunities involve looking at heating technologies, and ensuring that heat is on timers/sensors so that it is only used as needed. Piggeries are well positioned to take advantage of waste-to-energy schemes, as demonstrated by this case study about Blantyre Farms in Young, NSW.

Effluent from pigs is a potential source of energy on farm. Waste can be used as fertiliser, but large operations will likely have too much waste for this purpose. In this case, it makes sense to examine waste to energy technologies and explore capturing energy from effluent.

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