Renewable energy for sustainable agriculture

Agriculture is the sole provider of human food. Most farm machines are driven by fossil fuels, which contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and, in turn, accelerate climate change. Such environmental damage can be mitigated by the promotion of renewable resources such as solar, wind, biomass, tidal, geo-thermal, small-scale hydro, biofuels and wave-generated power. These renewable resources have a huge potential for the agriculture industry. The farmers should be encouraged by subsidies to use renewable energy technology. The concept of sustainable agriculture lies on a delicate balance of maximizing crop productivity and maintaining economic stability, while minimizing the utilization of finite natural resources and detrimental environmental impacts. Sustainable agriculture also depends on replenishing the soil while minimizing the use of non-renewable resources, such as natural gas, which is used in converting atmospheric nitrogen into synthetic fertilizer, and mineral ores, e.g. phosphate or fossil fuel used in diesel generators for water pumping for irrigation. Hence, there is a need for promoting use of renewable energy systems for sustainable agriculture, e.g. solar photovoltaic water pumps and electricity, greenhouse technologies, solar dryers for post-harvest processing, and solar hot water heaters. In remote agricultural lands, the underground submersible solar photovoltaic water pump is economically viable and also an environmentally-friendly option as compared with a diesel generator set. If there are adverse climatic conditions for the growth of particular plants in cold climatic zones then there is need for renewable energy technology such as greenhouses for maintaining the optimum plant ambient temperature conditions for the growth of plants and vegetables. The economics of using greenhouses for plants and vegetables, and solar photovoltaic water pumps for sustainable agriculture and the environment are presented in this article. Clean development provides industrialized countries with an incentive to invest in emission reduction projects in developing countries to achieve a reduction in CO2 emissions at the lowest cost. The mechanism of clean development is discussed in brief for the use of renewable systems for sustainable agricultural development specific to solar photovoltaic water pumps in India and the world. This article explains in detail the role of renewable energy in farming by connecting all aspects of agronomy with ecology, the environment, economics and societal change

Energy conservation in honey storage building using Trombe wall

This paper investigates energy conservation, mitigation of CO2 emissions and economics of retrofitting for a honey storage building with Trombe wall for winter heating application. The passive heating potential of Trombe wall for a honey storage building was estimated using TRNSYS building simulation software. This honey storage building is located at Gwalior (latitude: 26 degrees 14'N) in India. During winter months, the room air temperature of building falls below the required temperature range of 18-27 degrees C which is suitable for honey storage. So, the room air temperature range is maintained in the building using a 2.3 kW capacity electrical oil filled radiator (or room air heater) which accounts for the major energy consumption of the building on an annual basis. On account of which there are significant CO2 emissions into the atmosphere from the honey storage building. Hence, this case study was conducted to recommend the passive heating concept to the stakeholders of the building so as to conserve the energy requirement for room air heating. The investigation showed that the room air temperature can be easily maintained in the range suitable for honey storage using a vented Trombe wall. The experimental work was carried out for the existing building on a typical clear day of harsh winter month of January to validate the results of TRNSYS model of the present building. The statistical error analysis showed a good agreement between model and experimental results. This investigation concludes that there is potential of energy conservation up to 3312 kWh/year and associated reduction in CO2 emissions (similar to 33 tonne/year) using a Trombe wall. Also, the retrofitting of building is economically viable as the simple payback period is only about 7 months. (C) 200