Energy and Environment Assessment of Agricultural Application of Power Generating Sources

Abstract

Introduction. Recently the issue of decentralised (autonomous) power supply of certain rural consumers has been increasingly considered. Various small power generators using local and renewable energy sources can be applied for this purpose. So a consumer must choose the best-suited energy-generating source. Materials and Methods.The findings of energy audits, which were conducted by the Institute from 2003 to the present day, were used to evaluate energy consumers and determine operation modes of equipment and load schedules. Complex index of the negative impact of heat and electricity generation on the environment was determined using the Spesivtsev ‒ Drozdov method of logical-linguistic modelling based on expert assessments. Results. Energy sources can be divided into traditional (diesel generators and gas generator plants) or renewable ones (wind turbines, solar collectors, mini hydro systems). Energy source is chosen either with the help of the economic criterion, being the cost of one k·Wh of energy or the criterion of environmental compatibility, or total specific emission of pollutants from energy generation at local generating sources (g/k·Wh). Here, not only the quantity of emissions, but also the harmful effect on the environment is considered. Discussion and Conclusion. For the choice of energy supply sources, the coefficient of energy-ecological compatibility is proposed, being the product of the cost of one k·Wh of energy generated and specific emission of pollutants. The optimal value of this factor is the smallest, which accounts for both economic and environmental feasibility of energy generating sources.