Energy Smart Farming

It has been estimated that around 15% of global agricultural production costs on-farm are energy-related. With heightened concerns around the sustainability of crop and livestock production, the agricultural sector must develop and invest in alternative methods of farming that recoup the same results but have a reduced environmental impact. Energy-smart farming: Efficiency, renewable energy and sustainability reviews recent research undertaken on the ways of reducing the costs and environmental impact of on-farm energy use. The collection explores advances in improving energy efficiency on farms, the use of renewable energy technologies such as anaerobic digestion and agrivoltaics as well as how more sustainable energy use can be delivered in practice in livestock and other production systems.

Solar Energy Advancements in Agriculture and Food Production Systems aims to assist society and agricultural communities in different regions and scales to improve their productivity and sustainability. Solar energy, with its rapidly growing technologies and nascent market, has shown promise for integration into a variety of agricultural activities, providing an alternative, sustainable solution to current practices. To meet the future demands of modern sustainable agriculture, this book addresses the major existing problems by providing innovative, effective, and sustainable solutions using environment-friendly, advanced, energy-efficient, and cost-optimized solar energy technologies. This comprehensive book is intended to serve as a practical guide for scientists, engineers, policymakers, and stakeholders involved in agriculture and related primary industries, as well as sustainable energy development, and climate change mitigation projects. By including globally implemented solar-based agriculture projects in each chapter and highlighting the key associated challenges and benefits, it aims to bridge the knowledge gap between the market/real-world applications and research in the field. Provides up-to-date knowledge and recent advances in applications of solar energy technology in agriculture and food production Introduces two advanced concepts of agrivoltaics and aquavoltaics and addresses their potentials, challenges, and barriers Explains the application of solar energy technologies in agricultural systems, including greenhouse cultivation, water pumping and irrigation, desalination, heating and cooling, and drying Explains the use of solar energy in agricultural automation and robotics, considering precision agriculture and smart farming application Describes new applications of solar energy in agriculture and aquaculture, and technoeconomic and environmental impacts of solar energy technologies in agriculture and food production

Climate change and the loss of biodiversity are now realities. Their causes and origins stem from the energy, goods and resources relied upon by the lifestyle of a growing part of humanity. Smart Users for Energy and Societal Transition presents this much needed transition, as well as the scenarios and paths essential to mitigating the impacts of climate change. It deals with transitions experimented in the form of ecosystems in universities, cities and territories, as well as with concepts of smart buildings, smart grids and smart cities, addressed to smart users – or not – in an interdisciplinary research context. Sociological issues related to the role of smart building users are discussed, ranging from acceptance to the appropriation of the technologies made available to them. The book highlights the ethics of this essential transition and the importance of individual behaviors in safeguarding humanity on a preserved planet.

The books deals with the critical issues of climate change and its impact on agriculture and proposes climate smart agriculture as the probable solution to this issue. It discusses the impact of climate change and greenhouse gases emission on agriculture. It covers the strategies and management options of climate smart agriculture by including crop, water, soil, and energy management with examples and case studies. The subject matter has been presented in a very lucid language, containing real-time case studies, questions and few solved problems in specific chapters. The text is further enriched with simple line diagram and figures, chart, flow charts and tables. The book is primarily intended for researchers and professionals in the research areas of environmental science, agriculture, soil science, etc.

The concept of Rainbow Revolution is an integrated development of crop cultivation, horticulture, forestry, fishery, poultry, animal husbandry, and food processing industry. The concept of Smart Farming Technologies in agriculture is a step towards sustainability. India has already achieved resilience in agriculture, including the horticultural sector, through effective agricultural technology generation and is now on the threshold of a “rainbow revolution” that will ensure both household nutrition security and prosperity for its people. This book will be of immense value to the scientific community involved in teaching, research and extension activities related to strategies for achieving Rainbow Revolution for enhancing farmers’ income, food, and nutrition security. The book can also serve as a very useful reference for policymakers and practicing farmers.

This book examines the characteristics and opportunities for farm energy in the northeast quadrant of the United States, with attention to energy use, strategic energy management, and energy production by solar, wind, biomass, and other means. Throughout, the distinct characteristics of the region and their impact on energy solutions are discussed, and the outlook for future energy strategies is considered. Farm energy production and use are topics of increasing interest, as the need for improved efficiency and the opportunity for sustainable energy production both drive agricultural enterprises to reduce energy use and pursue opportunities for renewable energy production and use on the farm. However, the unique regional characteristics of agriculture make it challenging to apply a single approach to all situations.

"This book highlights the contextual dimensions of the agribusiness industry through which entrepreneurship researchers would be able to enhance their understanding of entrepreneurship by focusing on the following research question: "Why do individuals, farmers, agrarian, start a new business in the agricultural sector and how do they manage entrepreneurial performance, and what impact it has on the economy?""--

This publication i) illustrates how costs and benefits of energy interventions including their impacts along the agrifood value chain can be measured at country level, ii) applies the analysis to 11 country case studies, iii) identifies barriers, possible solutions, business models and success factors for the adoption of energy technologies, and iv) draws general recommendations for investors and decision makers. This report summarizes the analysis and main findings stemming from the FAO project “Investing in Energy Sustainable Technologies for the Agrifood Sector” (INVESTA). FAO has been working together with GIZ and partners of the international initiative Powering Agriculture: An Energy Grand Challenge for Development (PAEGC) since 2014. PAEGC, also partnered by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), supports the development and deployment of clean energy innovations that increase agriculture productivity and stimulate low carbon economic growth in the agriculture sector of developing countries to help end extreme poverty and extreme hunger.