@article{MoerkerkenDuijndamBlaschetal.2021, author = {Moerkerken, Albert and Duijndam, Sem and Blasch, Julia and van Beukering, Pieter and Smit, Arnoud}, title = {Determinants of energy efficiency in the Dutch dairy sector}, volume = {2021}, pages = {126095}, journal = {Journal of Cleaner Production}, subtitle = {dilemmas for sustainability}, number = {293}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0959-6526}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126095}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Since the European Energy Efficiency Directive, a lot of attention has been paid to energy saving measures, including how to overcome the barriers for implementation. This paper addresses the dilemmas of the Dutch dairy sector, where farms are getting bigger and mechanization is increasing, while at the same time the sector is aiming for improved energy efficiency and sustainability. With an online tool which systematically recorded the energy performance of dairy farmers, a unique dataset on farm energy use with more than 25,000 observations over the years 2015-2018 was obtained. This allows for a robust analysis of the determinants of energy efficiency in the sector, using panel data analyses. The results of this study reveal three major trends. First, the on-farm use of solar panels proves to be the most significant determinant for reducing non-renewable energy use. Second, gains in energy efficiency triggered by government policies are countervailed by the continuous trend of mechanization, with especially automatic milking systems causing lower energy efficiency. Third, the increasing economies of scale in milk production substantially improve per-unit energy efficiency. However, the increased need for mechanization related to higher on-farm production can cancel out this economies-of-scale effect. These findings add important new insights to the literature on cleaner production in farms and have important policy implications. Strategies for more energy-efficient farming should entail two directions for innovation: first, the stimulation of more energy efficient automatic milking systems, and second, the stimulation of solar energy production on farms including a better on-farm utilization of solar electricity.}, language = {en} } @article{MoerkerkenBlaschvanBeukeringetal.2019, author = {Moerkerken, Albert and Blasch, Julia and van Beukering, Pieter and van Well, Erik}, title = {A new approach to explain farmers' adoption of climate change mitigation measures}, volume = {159}, journal = {Climatic Change}, number = {1}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Dodrecht}, issn = {1573-1480}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02595-3}, pages = {141 -- 161}, year = {2019}, language = {en} } @article{MoerkerkenDuijndamBlaschetal.2023, author = {Moerkerken, Albert and Duijndam, Sem and Blasch, Julia and van Beukering, Pieter and van Well, Erik}, title = {Which farmers adopt solar energy? A regression analysis to explain adoption decisions over time}, volume = {2023}, journal = {Renewable Energy Focus}, number = {45}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {1755-0084}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ref.2023.04.001}, pages = {169 -- 178}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Farmers can play an important role in the critical renewable energy transition by generating solar energy. Farmers' adoption of a solar photovoltaic (PV) system results from a complex and interdependent array of technical, political, social, and economic factors. Under the regime of a covenant on energy and greenhouse gas emissions, the evolution of perceptions and responses to solar PV was monitored for a panel of 279 Dutch farmers in a unique series of surveys in 2015, 2018, and 2020. We observed that the willingness to reduce greenhouse gas emissions steadily increased from 35\% of the farmers in 2015 to 82\% in 2020, while the perceptions toward solar PV adoption among Dutch farmers fluctuated over this period. We examined Dutch farmers' determinants of solar PV uptake through multiple regression analyses. Consistent with the literature, our results indicate that behavioural intentions, the perceived importance of renewable energy, and farmers' innovativeness are the most critical determinants for solar PV adoption. Many farmers mentioned the decreased payback time as the most crucial motive to adopt solar PV. We argue that a stable long-term policy for renewable energy, as implemented in the Netherlands, creates attractive economic conditions for solar PV adoption. At the same time, the payback time is a critical factor in shaping farmers' intentions and behaviour. We recommend more extensive research using panel datasets of farmers, while we also acknowledge the difficulty of obtaining high-quality panel data, which underlines the uniqueness of our analysis.}, language = {en} }