Which types of Energies are Using in Agriculture Production and Processing for Sustainable Development

1. Energy Use in Agriculture Production
and Processing for Sustainable
Development
S. K. Goyal, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor (Stage-III)
in Agricultural Engineering
Institute of Agricultural Sciences,
Banaras Hindu University,
Rajiv Gandhi South Campus, Barkachha,
Mirzapur – 231 001 (U.P.)
Mob.: +91 8840987004; Whatsapp: +91 9554878752
Email: skgoyal@bhu.ac.in

2. Outlines
• Foreword
• Background
• Various Types of energy use
• Sustainable energy use
• Case studies
• Take of message

3. Foreword
• The agriculture sector has at its core the production process for foodstuff (e.g.,
grains, fruits and vegetables, meat, fish, poultry, and milk), and non-food products
of economic value (e.g., tobacco, jute, hemp).
• However, the sector also comprises or has close links with processes that take
place before and after this core production process, such as fertilizer production,
post-harvest processing, and transport of foodstuff.
• The agriculture sector has as its primary goal to delivery of food on the table for
the population or for export.
• Thus, any measure that will reduce the energy consumption while delivering the
food service is in principle a potential candidate for analysis as a mitigation option.
• Despite the relative importance of this sector to economic activity and
employment in the developing countries, agricultural energy use tends to be small
compared to that in industry or transport.
• Energy is mainly used for ground water pumping and farm machinery such as
threshers and tractors. In many cases, electricity and fuel use tends to be
inefficient because of price subsidies, and
• thus mitigation options may offer a significant potential for improving efficiency
and reducing GHG emissions from this sector.

4. Background
• Agriculture, as a production-oriented sector, requires energy as an important input to
production.
• Farm production — whether for crop or animal products — has become increasingly
mechanized and requires timely energy supplies at particular stages of the production cycle
to achieve optimum yields.
• Agriculture is reliant on the timely availability of energy, but has been reducing its overall rate
of energy consumption;
• Agriculture consumes energy both directly as fuel or electricity to power farm activities, and
indirectly in the fertilizers and chemicals produced off farm.
• Energy’s share of agricultural production expenses varies widely by activity, production
practice, and locality;
• At the farm level, direct energy costs are a significant, albeit relatively small component of
total production expenses in most activities and production processes;
• When combined with indirect energy expenses, total energy costs can play a much larger role
in farm net revenues, particularly for major field crop production; and
• Energy price changes have implications for agricultural choices of crop and activity mix, and
cultivation methods, as well as irrigation and post-harvest strategies.

5. Field Preparation
Seed Sowing
Field Irrigation

6. Major Nutrients
Threshing
Combine Harvesting
Harvesting

7. Energy Use in Agriculture
Energy use in agriculture can be divided into two
categories:
– Direct use of energy for pumping and
mechanization (tractors, power tiller, etc.) and
– Indirect use of energy in the form of fertilizers and
pesticides.

8. Farm Energy Consumption
• At the farm level, energy use is classified as either direct or indirect.
• Direct energy use in agriculture is primarily petroleum-based fuels
to operate tractors, 5HP engines, pickups, and trucks as well as
machinery for preparing fields, planting and harvesting crops,
applying chemicals, and transporting inputs and outputs to and
from market.
• Natural gas, liquid propane, and electricity also are used to power
crop dryers and irrigation equipment. Electricity is used largely for
lighting, heating, and cooling in homes and barns.
• Dairies also require electricity for operating milking systems, cooling
milk, and supplying hot water for sanitation.
• In addition, oils and lubricants are needed for all types of farm
machinery.

9. Trends in Energy-Use Pattern
• With economic growth, the demand for commercial energy is rising.
The consumption of commercial energy has increased 3.2-times
since 1980- 81.
• While the industrial sector continues to be the largest consumer of
commercial energy, its share has declined from 54 % in 1980-81 to
45% in 2016-17.
• On the other hand, the share of agriculture sector has increased
from 2 to 7% during this period.
• Energy-use in the agriculture sector has registered the highest
growth rate of 10.4 %, while its use in industry sectors has grown at
3.6 % during the past 2.5 decades.
• The structure of energy consumption in the Indian agriculture has
changed substantially, with a significant shift from animal and
human labour towards tractor for different farming operations and
electricity and diesel for irrigation.

10. • Reports indicated that in 1970-71, agricultural workers and draught
animals contributed considerably to the total energy-use in
agriculture (15 % and 45 %, respectively).
• while electricity and fossil energy together provided 40% energy.
• In a span of 5 decades, the share of these energy inputs in
agriculture has undergone a drastic change —the contribution of
electricity and fossil energy together has gone up to 86 per cent
and of agricultural workers and draught animals has come down to
6 % and 8 %.
• The total commercial energy input in Indian agriculture has
increased from 425.4 × 109 Mega Joules in 1980-81 to 2592.8 × 109
Mega Joules in 2016-77.
• This shift, coupled with increasing commercialization and
diversification towards high-value crops, will require more
commercial energy.

11. Sustainable Energy use
in Agriculture

12. • What is sustainable energy?
Sustainable energy (renewable energy) is the form of
energy obtained from non-exhaustible resources, such
that the provision of this form of energy serves the
needs of the present without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their needs.
• Types of sustainable energy
Wind energy
Solar energy
Hydro power
Tidal power
Geothermal energy
Energy from bio mass.

13. • This systems can be very cost-effective and reliable for many
power needs on farms and ranches.
• Water pumping using wind turbine
Wind turbine electricity generation can be used to raise the living
standard of rural dwellers by improving agricultural
productivity.
After installing wind turbine water pumps in a farm, one can raise
higher value crops throughout the year and also supply water
to the livestock.
Other applications of wind power using water pumps are:
domestic water supply, water supply for livestock, drainage, salt
ponds, fish farms, etc.

14. • Electricity generation from wind turbine
• Through this the agricultural productivity is increased and
the cost on electricity bill is reduced.
• Grinding grains and legumes using windmills
• Wind energy can be used for grinding grains and legumes.

15. • Solar energy can supply and/or supplement many farm
energy requirements
• Crop and grain drying
Using the sun to dry crops and grain is one of the oldest
and most widely used applications of solar energy.
The different types of solar dyers include:
Natural open air dryers
Direct solar dryers
Indirect solar dryer
Solar hybrid dryer

17. • Solar cookers
This fall in to two categories as solar oven
and direct focusing solar concentrators
• Solar space and water heating
Solar space-heating systems can be used in livestock, dairy and
other agriculture operations that have significant space and
water heating requirements
• Greenhouse heating
Another agricultural application of solar energy is
greenhouse heating.
A solar green house has thermal mass to collect
and store solar heat energy, and insulation to
retain this heat for use during the night and on cloudy days.

18. • Solar water pumping in agriculture
Photovoltaic (PV) water pumping systems may be the most
cost-effective water pumping option in locations where
there is no existing power line.
• Solar lamp
A solar lamp also known as solar
light or solar lantern, is a lighting system
composed of a LED lamp, solar panels,
battery, charge controller and there may also
be an inverter. ... Solar lamps have a lower
operating cost than kerosene lamps because
renewable energy from the sun is free, unlike
fuel.

19. • Remote electricity supply through solar photovoltaic
• It is a technology that converts light directly into
electricity. Photovoltaic material, most commonly utilizing
highly-purified silicon, converts sunlight directly into
electricity.
• They can power an electrical appliance directly, or store
solar energy in a battery.
• PV systems may be much cheaper than installing
power lines and step-down transformers in applications
such as electrical fencing, lighting, and water pumping.

20. • Hydro power electricity for farm appliances
Hydroelectricity contributes to the storage of drinking
water and also the Hydroelectric power plant reservoirs
collect rainwater, which can then be used for consumption
or for irrigation.
• Irrigation through hydro power

21. • Tidal power usage in aquaculture
• Irrigation in shrimp (Prawn) farming
• Tidal Electricity
• Grain Mills: Tidal Energy was used for the mechanical
crushing of grains in Grain Mills. The movement of Turbines
due to Tidal Energy was used in the crush Grains.

22. Biomass energy is produced from plants and organic
wastes—everything from crops, trees, and crop residues to
manure
•heating buildings, crop drying, dairy operations, and
industrial processes
•Generate energy on the farm: environmentally-friendly
alternative fuels that can substitute gasoline and diesel or
be blended with them to reduce toxic air emissions.
•produce steam and generate electricity: many electric
generators and businesses burn biomass by itself or with
other fuels in conventional power plants.

23. • Biodiesel : a low-polluting diesel alternative fuel made
from vegetable oils, animal fats, and even recycled cooking
greases.
• Ethanol: an alcohol-based fuel derived from crops, usually
corn, barley and wheat. Ethanol can be blended with
gasoline in varying concentrations
• Biomass gas for heating: The gas can then be burned to
produce heat, steam, or electricity.

24. • Heating Greenhouses with Geothermal Energy:
Geothermal energy has been used most extensively in
agriculture for greenhouse heating during the last 25 years
• Irrigation with warm water
• Open field Heating
• Production of algae Spirulina

25. • Geothermal aquaculture (fish growing):Breeding different
fishes in heated water enables their production all over the
year, and the use of geothermal energy makes it cheap and
profitable.
• Drying agricultural products: According to experience
already made, drying of agricultural products with
geothermal energy offers competitiveness and improves
quality for different products.

26. • Sea/brackish water greenhouses: A recently developed
process makes it possible to combine greenhouse heating
with the desalination of sea/brackish water using
geothermal energy
• Soil heating: Soil heating makes it possible to extend the
growing season and maintain a constant soil temperature
to increase yields.
• Milk pasteurization: Geothermal hot water can be used for
milk pasteurization and drying processes, while
geothermal steam can be used for milk evaporation and
the UHT process

27. Challenges faced by Agriculture and power
sector
▪ The FAO projects that by 2050 global food production will need to increase 70
percent over 2005–2007 levels to meet the demand of a growing world
population expected to reach 9.6 billion people.
▪ Agri-food supply chain accounts for 30% of the world’s energy consumption as
reported by the International Renewable Energy Agency.
▪ Achieving universal energy access
▪ De-coupling from fossil fuels
▪ Producing and consuming energy more efficiently
▪ Minimizing costly waste
▪ Preserving natural resource base

28. Energy demand for agriculture
▪ Energy for transport
▪ Energy for production
▪ Energy for Irrigation
▪ Energy for storage
▪ Energy for post processing of food items like drying , peeling etc

30. Types of energy used in agriculture
▪ Electrical energy: suitable for powering water pumps, milling
machines, fridges
▪ Mechanical energy: suitable for production and processing
e.g. for harvesters or tractors, most of the machines, etc.
▪ Thermal energy: suitable for different value-adding processes
e.g. cooking, drying, cooling (thermally driven cooling
systems)
▪ Animal energy
▪ Human energy

31. Use of energy sources and income levels
End use Household income
Low Medium High
Household
Cooking Wood, residues, dung Wood, charcoal, dung,
kerosene, biogas
Wood, charcoal, coal, kerosene,
biogas, LPG, electricity
Lighting Candles and kerosene Candles, kerosene, gasoline Kerosene, electricity, gasoline
Space heating Wood, residues, dung Wood, charcoal, dung Wood, charcoal, dung, coal
Other appliances Batteries (if any) Electricity, batteries Electricity, batteries
Agriculture
Tilling Human Animal Animal, gasoline, diesel
Irrigation Human Animal, wind pumps Diesel, electricity
Post-harvest processing Human, sun drying Animal, water mills, sun drying Diesel, electricity, solar drying
Rural Industry
Mechanical tools Human Human, animal Human, animal, diesel,
electricity
Process heat Wood, residues Coal, charcoal, wood, residues
Coal, charcoal, wood, kerosene,
residues
Transport
Motive power Human Human, animal Human, animal, diesel, gasoline

32. Case studies on use of sustainable
energy in agriculture
Cold Storages

33. Biogas powered milk chiilers : SimGas,
Tanzania
▪ The emerging dairy industry in East Africa affects the livelihoods of more
than 2 million smallholder farmers
▪ While demand is expected to more than double in coming years, only 15
percent of milk produced reaches the formal market and 30–50 percent is
not delivered to milk collection centers.
▪ The reason being that raw milk is not cooled at farm level because 85
percent of rural East Africa lacks access to a (reliable) power grid.
▪ SimGas developed the first off-grid, biogas-powered milk chiller at farm level
to help milk supply meet demand: the SimGas Biogas Milk Chiller (BMC).

34. Technology
▪ BMC runs on biogas, produced with an on-farm biogas digester.
▪ Amount of manure produced by a cow creates enough biogas to refrigerate
her own milk, while leaving enough biogas to cook a meal for the
household.
▪ Empower small dairy farmers to guide their own development; the BMC
can greatly improve the income of small dairy farmers, help supply to meet
demand, help farmers to access the formal dairy market, and contribute to
improved nutrition.
▪ Video link to the innovation : http://poweringag.org/news-
events/video/biogas- milk-chilling-increase-productivity-incomes-dairy-
farmers-simgas.

35. Solar powered chilling with thermal backup-
Promethean, India
▪ Promethean Power Systems designs and manufactures refrigeration
systems coupled to their thermal batteries for agricultural commercial
refrigeration applications in off-grid and partially electrified areas of
developing countries
▪ Promethean is working in partnership with the Hatsun Argo—India’s largest
private dairy company, and Orb Energy—a leading solar energy system
provider in India.
▪ In India, $10 billion worth of perishable foods are wasted annually because
of unreliable cold-chain supply networks.
▪ Major obstacle in setting up cold chain networks is the lack of reliable
electricity to run refrigeration systems in villages and farming areas. Diesel
generators are often used to provide electricity for milk chilling, a non-
ideal solution with high operating costs and negative environmental
impact

36. Technology
▪ Thermal energy battery pack that charges on intermittent power
sources such as solar power and/or a few hours of grid electricity.
▪ Dairy processors can collect raw milk from remote dairy farmers and
keep it cold in a rapid milk cooler, reducing the time that milk is
unchilled by 75 percent.
▪ Promethean will design and deploy the refrigeration systems in
collaboration with India’s largest private dairy and one of India’s largest
solar installers.
▪ Video link : http://poweringag.org/news-events/video/making-thermal-
battery- makes-milk-safer-promethean-power

37. Other solution providers
▪ Sundazer
▪ Rebound technologies
▪ Ecozen
▪ TESSOL
▪ Clique solar
▪ TERI

38. Offgrid Power

39. Off grid power with rice husk and Solar PV-
Husk power systems
▪ Husk Power Systems is a rural empowerment enterprise. It focuses
on inclusive rural development on the backbone of electric power.
▪ Creates a self-sustaining ecosystem in the villages it serves, enabling
economic development along with environmental protection,
physical well-being and strengthening of the rural communities.
▪ Further reading :
http://www.huskpowersystems.com/innerPage.php?pageT=Commu
nity%20Impa ct&page_id=81

40. Technology
▪ Husk Power will install a hybrid solution that combines a biomass
gasification system with a solar PV system. The biomass plant
uses a proprietary downdraft gasification technology that
converts abundant agricultural residue into electricity.
▪ Agricultural uses that will be powered include irrigation pumps,
agro-processing mills, and drying and heating processes. The
biomass plant converts abundant agricultural residue, such as
maize cobs, rice husks, coffee husks, and cotton stalks, into
electricity.

41. Renewable Microgrids for Off-Grid Fish Hatcheries
and Surrounding Communities-IDE , Bangladesh
▪ International Development Enterprises (iDE) has over 30 years’
experience in designing and delivering market based anti-poverty
programs.
▪ Implemented in partnership with Renewable World—a UK-based
charity tackling poverty using renewable energy.
▪ Off-grid fish hatcheries in Bangladesh, and their surrounding
communities, rely extensively on diesel and kerosene to provide
electricity needed to pump water and provide light.
▪ The households around hatcheries typically rear fish in small
ponds, using fingerlings from the hatchery for part of the year.

42. ▪ The proposed solution will replace diesel generation with a micro-
grid powered by economically viable renewable sources
▪ The system will power hatchery water pumping activities and
provide household- level renewable power through an innovative
metering technology. The mobile metering and billing system will
allow users to pay for their electricity using mobile money, either
pre- or post-usage.
▪ Video link :http://poweringag.org/news-events/video/renewable-
microgrids- grid-fish-hatcheries-surrounding-communities-ide-
Bangladesh

43. Irrigation

44. Low-Cost Pay-Per-Use Irrigation Using Solar Trolley
Systems- Claro systems , India
▪ Claro Energy provides off-grid solar power pumping solutions to power-
deficient regions in India
▪ In India, the availability of irrigation water is dependent on monsoon
patterns or the availability of power to operate ground water pumps.
▪ Many villages lack access to electricity. Given this lack of electricity, diesel
pumps are often the most reliable means to pump the water that is used
for irrigation.
▪ The use of diesel fuel has many drawbacks, including environmental
pollution, as well as ever-increasing costs which have a negative impact
on farmers’ economic prosperity.

45. ▪ Claro energy offers a pay-per-use irrigation service that uses a portable
solar pump.
▪ The portable design will provide affordable, convenient, and on-demand
irrigation
▪ The service will meet the needs of a wide range of farmers who do not
own pumps, with no upfront capital costs incurred. The farmer will call a
toll-free line, pre-pay, and schedule irrigation service at his field.
▪ Video link : http://poweringag.org/news-events/video/low-cost-pay-use-
irrigation-using-solar-trolley-systems-claro

46. A Hydroponic Green Farming Initiative-
Eco consult , Jordan
▪ Jordan is considered to be one of the ten most water-scarce countries in the world.
▪ As water becomes scarcer, its availability for agriculture is expected to decrease.
Hydroponic technology, an intensive form of agriculture, uses much less water than
conventional farming and offers an excellent opportunity for farmers to increase their
income while reducing their water use. Although farmers have expressed their interest in
this new technology, its application in Jordan is still limited.
▪ ECO Consult has developed an integrated model of hydroponic and photovoltaic farming to
compete with conventional greenhouse technology and drip irrigation systems.
▪ To make the technology attractive to large-scale commercial farms, ECO Consult will
retrofit a multi-span greenhouse with advanced hydroponic technologies and photovoltaic
panels to generate enough power to operate the lighting, pumping, and air moderation
systems.
▪ Video link : http://poweringag.org/news-events/video/laith-al-waked-eco- consult-
winning-2013-award

47. Food Processing

48. Solar Agro-Processing Power Stations-Village
infrastructure angels
▪ Many small, rural villages and towns are off grid, with limited or no access to reliable
sources of electricity.
▪ Agro-processing is a productive end use of electricity for which a large gap currently
exists. Small villages typically do not have access to a diesel mill for crop processing,
and must rely on manual processing, or travel long distances to use a mill.
▪ VIA plans to install solar mills in villages in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines,
and Vanuatu.
▪ These mills will deliver services to up to 10,000 households. Small mills will be
installed, with an appropriate capacity for the village, through a microfinancing
program.
▪ The mills will be used to process staple crops, such as rice, corn, and cassava, that
require processing before eating, and make up the majority of the diet of rural
villagers.
▪ Video link :http://poweringag.org/news-events/video/solar-agro-processing- power-
stations-village-infrastructure-angels

49. Solar air drying – Various case
studies
▪ Drying is an important form of food preservation that is often carried out at farm
level right after harvest, or especially with highly perishable crops, at peak harvest
time when local markets are saturated.
▪ Open-air or unimproved drying :Food is exposed to the sun and wind by placing it
in trays, on racks, or on the ground. Advantage of drying products directly open-
air is that almost no costs for fuel and appliances have to be spent by the farmer.
However, the dried products are often of lower quality due to varying
temperature levels and contamination of the products with dust, vermin’s and
leafs.
▪ 70 per cent of agricultural products spoil during the traditional process of open-air
drying, especially in tropical and subtropical regions [http://www.innotech-
ing.de/Innotech/english/Processing.html].

50. Solar /Biomass Dryer

51. Solar air drying
▪ Initial investment is required but no expenditure is incurred on fuels.
▪ Heats air by collecting solar infrared radiation
▪ The air is circulated in the drying chamber which removes moisture from
the agricultural produce.
▪ Keeps the food free from dust, insect and rains
▪ Typical payback time for the dryer is 2-3 years
▪ Initial investment depends upon the size of the unit . Typically a 50 Kg
capacity unit with forced convection can cost INR 50000
▪ Box type solar air dryers are available at cheaper prices
[http://www.cazri.res.in/itmu/pdf/Solar%20dryer%20for%20vegetables%20
and%20fruits
.pdf]

52. Coffee processing with solar dryers in Peru
Picture: Drying within a solar dryer protects the
yield against spoiling by rain or wind and animals.
(Juan Carlos Quiroz, GIZ EnDev Peru)
The tent out of the protective plastic film
increases the drying process extremly. (Juan
Carlos Quiroz, GIZ EnDev Peru)

53. Drying peaches with solar air
dryer in Bolivia
Further information about the project is
available at :
http://www.produse.org/imglib/downloads/en
ergy_sources/PRODUSE-Factsheet-Bolivia.pdf
Solar air tunnel dryer developed in India by
CAZRI. More details about the project can be
found here :
http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/
fsn/docs/Local_Tunnel_Solar_Drier.pdf

54. Drying chilli peppers in Peru

55. • Sustainable energy is the form of energy obtained from non-exhaustible
resources, such that the provision of this form of energy serves the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their needs.
• Types of sustainable energy include the Wind energy, Solar energy,
Hydropower, Tidal power, Geothermal energy, Energy from bio mass.
• These energies have been used successfully in the agriculture in various
applications.
• Therefore the sustainable energy usage in agriculture is a good alternative
for the high demand of energy requirements.
Take home message