HarvRESt project

🌍 We are pleased to see our HarvRESt partner Confagricoltura presenting at Ecomondo, alongside a range of European initiatives advancing sustainable agriculture and food systems. The HarvRESt project is among others developing an Agricultural Virtual Power Plant (AVPP) capable of running diverse scenarios and farm configurations. The tool will determine the best operational procedures for a given RES solution.

⚡Powering the Future of Farming: HarvRESt’s RES Technologies Library As agriculture faces increasing pressure to reduce its environmental footprint while remaining productive and profitable, the HarvRESt project is taking important steps to bridge renewable energy with sustainable farming. One of its key milestones, the 𝐑𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲, marks a major advance in creating the digital backbone for the Agricultural Virtual Power Plant (AVPP), an innovative platform that will transform farms into climate-neutral energy hubs. The library compiles and organises the most relevant modelling tools and datasets to simulate and optimise renewable energy integration in farms. Covering solar, wind, hydro, biomass, and storage technologies, as well as agricultural production models, demand forecasting, and weather data, the resource establishes a structured foundation for hybrid energy–agriculture simulations. Learn more about the RES Technologies Library here 👉 https://shorturl.at/QHwRq 👈

Explore the latest in sustainable farming innovation! The newest edition of the HarvRESt newsletter is now live featuring fresh updates on how we're driving renewable solutions across European agriculture. In this issue you can among others read about: 🔹 The development of the RES Technologies Library - the digital backbone for the Agricultural Virtual Power Plant (AVPP), which is an innovative platform that will transform farms into climate-neutral energy hubs. 🔹 Training modules to empower farmers with renewable energy know-how 🔹 Wind turbine approvals in Norway 🔹 Advanced forecasting tools for smarter energy use on farms 🔹 14 Practice Abstracts offering hands-on guidance for the green transition 📬 Read the newsletter here 👇

🗨️“We need more research like the work we are doing at González Byass on agrivoltaic energy", says Miguel Tejerina Sanz, who last week took part in a roundtable discussion during an event organized by Aelec in Toledo on “Energy Transition in Rural Areas. During his talk, he shared González Byass’s experience with agrivoltaic energy and the HarvRESt project, where he also added that: “It is a technology with great potential to improve crops and make them more sustainable and resilient in arid climates, but there is still much to learn in order to fully understand it and optimize it according to the needs of each crop.”

👏 A huge congratulations to Fernando J. Díaz López on being appointed as Lead Author for Chapter 10: Industry in the IPCC’s Seventh Assessment Report (AR7), Working Group III on Climate Mitigation. In HarvRESt we are proud to have such expertise in the project and look forward to seeing how the insights from the IPCC’s Industry chapter will resonate with efforts to scale renewable energy integration across Europe’s agricultural sector. 🌿⚡

💡 Did you know that biogas can play a key role in making farming more climate-friendly? Our Danish partner ConTerra has shared new results showing how turning livestock manure into biogas can cut methane emissions in Denmark by a significant amount. This not only helps fight climate change but also supports farmers in adapting to future climate policies. For HarvRESt, this is a great example of how renewable energy solutions can bring real benefits to both agriculture and the environment. Biogas is just one of the renewable energy sources we are exploring within HarvRESt, as we work to create synergies between energy production, agriculture, and sustainability. Learn more here 👇👇

🌱 HarvRESt Project Update: 5th General Assembly in Odense, Denmark 🌱 Last week, the HarvRESt project partners gathered in Odense, Denmark, for a productive two-day 5th General Assembly. During the meeting, we reviewed our progress, shared valuable insights, and planned the next steps in harnessing renewable energy for sustainable agriculture. The project has now been running for 20 months, which means that we are more than halfway through the project. In that time many things have been going on, among others: ➡ The organisation of warm-up events involving 120+ stakeholders to know needs and concerns ➡ A Financial schemes and risk analysis has been conducted ➡ The design of modular capacity building programmes with five thematic modules ➡ Experimental trials, which are still ongoing ➡ Established technical foundation for Agricultural Virtual Power Plant (AVPP) including initial considerations on possible architecture and a pre-selection of models to be used ➡ Interconnection of technical, agronomic, and social data layers for future Decision Support System (DSS) integration   The project meeting also featured a presentation by guest speaker Bruno Sander Nielsen, Technical Director of Biogas Danmark, which is a trade association with approximately 240 members. They work for the entire biogas value chain, which includes everything from the utilisation of livestock manure and organic waste products from agriculture, households and industry to the production and use of biogas and green fertiliser. Last but not least Holger Nehmdahl from the project partner organisation ConTerra gave a demonstration of the web-based tool, which models biogas production potential from agricultural biomass. The tool is still under development, but the ‘engine’ itself is currently being tested. Thank you to ConTerra and Food & Bio Cluster Denmark for hosting the meeting.

Get a quick overview of the HarvRESt project, which has been launched to address the need of enhancing the use of renewable energy technologies (#RES) along with #sustainable #farming methods, aiming to help the agricultural and food industry reduce carbon emissions. The integration of RES on farms offers many benefits for both the farmers and the climate. With this approach farms will: ✔become climate neutral ✔optimise their production ✔reduce their impact on natural resources ✔reduce their impact on biodiversity ✔provide energy services to communities ✔diversify their economic income Watch the video below or go to www.harvrest.eu to learn more.

👉Soil is a critical yet often overlooked factor in sustainability metrics. While carbon, nitrogen, and water footprints are widely used to track environmental performance, they do not capture the direct and indirect impacts of agriculture on soil health. The HarvRESt project addresses this gap by introducing the edaphic footprint, a novel methodology grounded in the CWA 17898:2022 standard. This method quantifies how farming practices affect physical, chemical, and biological soil properties across medium- and long-term timeframes. Key components include: • Soil Impact Factor: This aggregates indicators for erosion, nutrient depletion, organic matter loss, salinity, and acidification. • Compatibility with existing footprints: Indicators will be aligned with carbon, nitrogen, and water footprints, integrating soil impact into broader sustainability frameworks. • Soil biodiversity assessment: Emphasis is placed on microbial and faunal communities, which influence nutrient cycling, structure, and overall fertility. • Organic matter dynamics: A modelling approach will be used to track stabilisation and carbon sequestration potential using site-specific and literature data. • Water retention indicators: A new metric is proposed to assess soil’s resilience to drought, linked to farm management practices. All these dimensions will be integrated into a comprehensive soil sustainability model, providing stakeholders with a holistic view of soil health. The methodology will be validated using HarvRESt Use Case data and additional datasets, ensuring it is robust, replicable, and scalable across diverse agricultural systems in Europe. Find the practice abstract here along with 13 more: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dsDwXZRS 📷 iStock, Credit:Dmytro Diedov

👀Check out the series of webinars planned by one of our project partners below - on financing for the future, partnering for peat and on CAP updates!