3 - Calculating Energy and Food Production Potential and Requirements

Abstract

This chapter elaborates the calculation of energy- and food-production potential and requirements. The modeling procedure should include the identification and determination of parameters such as site conditions, energy requirement per year for food production for households, basic food requirement per person per year, and number of the energy consumers. For elaboration, development, and establishment of an integrated energy farm (IEF), two scenarios are considered in the chapter, each followed by a flow chart. A table in the chapter gives an overview of the data that should be identified in detail for the planning, modeling, and implementation of an IEF. The data for nonrenewable energy use in agriculture exclude the energy required for food processing and transport by agroindustries. Estimates of these activities range up to twice the energy reported solely in agriculture. The study in the chapter shows that farms with the highest energy input per hectare have the highest production and lowest input per ton of production. On an industrial scale, solar energy is used for power generation, detoxification, municipal water heating, and telecommunication. In a solar thermo-electric system, sunlight is concentrated with mirrors or lenses to attain a high temperature sufficient for power generation. A figure in the chapter illustrates the testing of high temperature solar collectors in Sandia Laboratories, USA. Flowcharts of a solar cell and the main structure of a photovoltaic (PV) system are given in the chapter as well.