The study aimed to identify good practices to reduce energy consumption and energetic CO2 emissions in the Dutch agricultural sector that can be applied in Flanders, in particular in the greenhouse horticulture sector. To do this, an in-depth quantitative comparison of energy consumption and CO2 emission trends has been performed and the relevant policy measures have been investigated in detail. Based on this analysis, concrete recommendations were formulated for the Flemish government. Some of the main conclusions were a) the reduction of energy use and (energetic) CO2 emissions in Flemish agriculture are not sufficient to be in line with the 2030 climate targets, b) the generous support for Combined Heat and Power (CHP) used in greenhouses in the form of tax reductions and subsidies are limiting decarbonisation in both the Netherlands and Flanders, c) To accelerate decarbonisation of the sector Trinomics recommends to on one hand increase the taxes on fossil fuel use (through e.g. phasing out tax reductions for CHP use) and on the other hand scale up subsidies for renewable alternatives (e.g. energy saving measures, geothermal).

The study was written in Dutch and is called ‘Energiegebruik en CO2 uitstoot van de Nederlandse en Vlaamse land- en tuinbouwsector’.

The report can be found at the website of VEKA:
https://www.energiesparen.be/analyse-van-het-energiegebruik-en-de-co2-uitstoot-van-de-land-en-tuinbouwsector

Categories: Climate Change, Emission Reduction Pathways, Energy, Energy Policy Regulation and Markets, Renewable and Low-carbon Energy