Geothermal, Wind and Solar Energy Applications in Agriculture and Aquaculture

About this book

The agri-food chain consumes about one third of the world's energy production with about 12% of it for crop production and nearly 80% for processing, distribution, retail, preparation and cooking. The agri-food chain also accounts for 80-90% of total global freshwater use where 70% alone is for irrigation. Additionally, on a global scale, freshwater production consumes nearly 15% of the entire energy production. It can therefore be argued that making agriculture and the agri-food supply chain independent from fossil fuel use has a huge potential to contribute to global food security and climate protection not only for the next decades but also for the coming century. Provision of secure, accessible and environmentally sustainable supplies of water, energy and food must thus be a priority.

One of the major objectives of the world's scientists, farmers, decisions makers and industrialists is to overcome the present dependence on fossil fuels in the agro-food sector. This dependency increases the volatility of food prices and affects economic access to sustenance.

Geothermal, Wind and Solar Energy Applications in Agriculture and Aquaculture provides a critical review of recent developments in solar, wind and geothermal energy applications in agriculture and the agro-food sector such as processing, distribution, retail, preparation and cooking.

Contents

1. Solar, wind and geothermal energy applications in agriculture: back to the future? / Jochen Bundschuh, Guangnan Chen, Barbara Tomaszewska, Noreddine Ghaffour, Shahbaz Mushtaq, Ihsan Hamawand, Kathryn Reardon-Smith, Tek Maraseni, Thomas Banhazi, Hacene Mahmoudi, Mattheus Goosen & Diogenes L. Antille
2. Agriculture sector modernization and renewable energy development: perspectives from developing countries / Robert K. Dixon & Ming Yang
3. Linking food and nutrition security, urban and peri-urban agriculture, and sustainable energy use: experiences from South America / Deborah Hines & Sarah Balistreri
4. Renewable energy use for aquaponics development on a global scale towards sustainable food production / Ragnheidur Thorarinsdottir, Daniel Coaten, Edoardo Pantanella, Charlie Shultz, Henk Stander & Kristin Vala Ragnarsdottir
5. Renewable energy use and potential in remote central Australia / Yiheyis Maru, Supriya Mathew, Digby Race & Bruno Spandonide
6. Opportunities of adopting renewable energy for the nursery industry in Australia / Guangnan Chen, Erik Schmidt, Tek Maraseni, Jochen Bundschuh, Thomas Banhazi & Diogenes L. Antille
7. Fundamentals of solar energy / Maciej Klein, Kamil Lapinski, Katarzyna Siuzdak & Adam Cenian
8. Renewable energy technologies for greenhouses in semi-arid climates Francisco / Javier Cabrera, Jorge Antonio Sanchez-Molina, Guillermo Zaragoza, Manuel Perez-Garcia & Francisco Rodriguez-Diaz
9. Solar photocatalytic disinfection of water for reuse in irrigation / Pilar Fernandez-Ibanez, Maria Inmaculada Polo-Lopez, Sixto Malato, Alba Ruiz-Aguirre & Guillermo Zaragoza
10. Solar PV for water pumping and irrigation / Istvan Patay, Istvan Seres & Jochen Bundschuh
11. Solar drying / Om Prakash, Anil Kumar &Atul Sharma
12. Small-scale wind power energy systems for use in agriculture and similar applications / Wojciech Miaskowski, Krzysztof Nalepa, Pawel Pietkiewicz & Janusz Piechocki
13. Windmills for water pumping, irrigation and drainage / Istvan Patay & Norbert Schrempf
14. Lakes as a heat source for heat pumps - a model study to determine the ecological impact of summer heat transfer / Renata Brzozowska, Maciej Neugebauer & Janusz Piechocki

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