Renewable energy for agri-food systems: Towards the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement

Renewable energy for agri-food systems: Towards the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement

Author: International Renewable Energy Agency

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2021-11-03

Total Pages: 92

ISBN-13: 9251352356

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In 2021, the United Nations Secretary-General will convene the Food Systems Summit to advance dialogue and action towards transforming the way the world produces, consumes and thinks about food guided by the overarching vision of a fairer, more sustainable world. The Secretary-General will also convene the High-Level Dialogue on Energy (HLDE) to promote the implementation of the energy-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Given the inextricable linkages between the energy and agriculture sectors, integrating the nexus perspective within the FSS and the HLDE is crucial to formulate a joint vision of actions to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement. In this context, IRENA and FAO have decided to jointly develop a report on the role of renewable energy used in food chain to advance energy and food security as well as climate action towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. While energy has a key enabling role in food system transformation and innovation in agriculture, its current use is unsustainable because of the high dependence on fossil fuels and frequent access to energy in developing countries. The challenge is to disconnect fossil fuel use from food system transformation without hampering food security. The use of renewable energy in food systems offers vast opportunities to address this challenge and help food systems meet their energy needs while advancing rural development while contributing to rural development and climate action.


Renewable energy for agrifood chains

Renewable energy for agrifood chains

Author: Puri, M., Rincon, L., Maltsoglou, I.

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2021-09-14

Total Pages: 159

ISBN-13: 9251348391

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This report presents a structured approach to identify and estimate the market size of specific renewable energy technologies that have the potential to be deployed across specific stages of the agri-food chains. More specifically, the methodology first analyses the countries’ value chains and aggregates them into similar agri-food groups when possible. Once the groupings are defined, the value chains are mapped out and the energy requirements across the different stages of the value chain are defined. Specific renewable energy options are then identified for each value chain based on the energy demand and the process for which energy is required. This structure then feeds into the calculation of the overall market potential by chain and the renewable energy type identified. For this report, the methodology is illustrated with the case of solar energy technologies that have the potential to be deployed across the agriculture value chains in Rwanda.


Agriculture & Food Systems To 2050: Global Trends, Challenges And Opportunities

Agriculture & Food Systems To 2050: Global Trends, Challenges And Opportunities

Author: Rachid Serraj

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2018-11-08

Total Pages: 680

ISBN-13: 9813278366

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This book features a comprehensive foresight assessment, exploring the pressures — threats as well as opportunities — on the global agriculture & food systems between now and 2050. The overarching aim is to help readers understand the context, by analyzing global trends and anticipating change for better planning and constructing pathways from the present to the future by focusing on the right questions and problems. The book contextualizes the role of international agricultural research in addressing the complex challenges posed by UN 2030 Agenda and beyond, and identifies the decisions that scientific leaders, donors and policy makers need to take today, and in the years ahead, to ensure that a global population rising to nine billion or more combined with rising incomes and changing diets can be fed sustainably and equitably, in the face of the growing climate threats.


Agri-food and Forestry Sectors for Sustainable Development

Agri-food and Forestry Sectors for Sustainable Development

Author: Francesco Meneguzzo

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-02-23

Total Pages: 120

ISBN-13: 3030662845

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This book surveys state-of-the-art and prospective practices, methods and technologies in agri-food and forestry sectors to document the potential measurable improvements in areas of environmental management, food security, economic growth, social cohesion and human health at the local and global scale. With a focus on the ecosystems-resources-climate-food-health nexus as a framework towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals applicable in these sectors, the book offers a portfolio of guidelines and standards that assesses the affordability, potential profitability and possible unintended consequences of interventions. The areas of intervention covered in the study include global and local forest resources management, safe wastewater reuse for irrigation, sustainable crop and plant protection (e.g. biopesticides, bioherbicides), carbon sequestration and emission reduction strategies, and safe processing methods for food and food waste (e.g. sustainable food preservatives and healthier food). The book is primarily intended for academics, professionals, and policymakers. The professional audience, including enterprises in the forestry, farming, food processing, healthcare and waste management sectors, will take advantage of the updated knowledge basis concerning the innovations in the respective practices, methods and technologies, including their feasibility, affordability and profitability, and policymakers will find useful the comprehensive review of these innovations which could be strategically promoted and deployed in the next decade, with the aim of achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.


Geothermal, Wind and Solar Energy Applications in Agriculture and Aquaculture

Geothermal, Wind and Solar Energy Applications in Agriculture and Aquaculture

Author: Jochen Bundschuh

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2017-08-02

Total Pages: 522

ISBN-13: 135165814X

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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. This book 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.


Renewable Energy for Agri-food Systems

Renewable Energy for Agri-food Systems

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781523151844

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Energy and agri-food systems are deeply connected. Agri-food systems consume about 30% of the world's energy. While, energy is responsible for a third of agri-food systems' emissions. A joint approach to the Energy Transition and Food Systems Transformation is therefore essential to meet current and future demand for food and energy in an inclusive and environmentally sustainable manner. Renewable energy solutions represent a crucial opportunity to meet the energy needs in the agriculture sector that are key to raising farmer incomes, cutting losses, creating jobs, improving access to clean cooking fuels, and advancing climate action for mitigation and adaptation. This report jointly developed by the International Renewable Energy Agency and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations analyses the role of renewable energy in agri-food systems and the opportunity they offer to advance energy and food security objectives as well as contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.


Introduction to Estuarine Hydrodynamics

Introduction to Estuarine Hydrodynamics

Author: Arnoldo Valle-Levinson

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2022-03-03

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 1108838251

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An essential introduction to the study of estuaries, highlighting their immense spatial and temporal variability.


Sustainable Intensification

Sustainable Intensification

Author: Jules N. Pretty

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-06-25

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 1136529276

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Continued population growth, rapidly changing consumption patterns and the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are driving limited resources of food, energy, water and materials towards critical thresholds worldwide. These pressures are likely to be substantial across Africa, where countries will have to find innovative ways to boost crop and livestock production to avoid becoming more reliant on imports and food aid. Sustainable agricultural intensification - producing more output from the same area of land while reducing the negative environmental impacts - represents a solution for millions of African farmers. This volume presents the lessons learned from 40 sustainable agricultural intensification programmes in 20 countries across Africa, commissioned as part of the UK Government's Foresight project. Through detailed case studies, the authors of each chapter examine how to develop productive and sustainable agricultural systems and how to scale up these systems to reach many more millions of people in the future. Themes covered include crop improvements, agroforestry and soil conservation, conservation agriculture, integrated pest management, horticulture, livestock and fodder crops, aquaculture, and novel policies and partnerships.


Sustainable Rural Systems

Sustainable Rural Systems

Author: Guy Robinson

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-01

Total Pages: 239

ISBN-13: 1317047672

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In a neo-liberal era where society in the Developed World is reliant on mass-produced cheap foods, and living standards are based on high consumption of non-renewable energy and materials, this book investigates the growing significance of sustainable systems in rural areas. Drawing on a wide range of topical case studies, primarily in the UK, it provides an in-depth analysis of the progress made towards sustainability within rural systems, focusing specifically upon sustainable agriculture and sustainable rural communities. The authors provide an overview of the various systems of sustainability currently being applied in the Developed World. They highlight key environmental, economic and social issues, including post-productivism, 'alternative' food networks, organic farming, GM foods, conservation, rural development programmes, sustainable tourism, local training schemes and community participation. The various studies provide important lessons in the ongoing search for greater sustainability and suggest positive directions for future policy practice.


How Access to Energy Can Influence Food Losses

How Access to Energy Can Influence Food Losses

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2018-07-26

Total Pages: 70

ISBN-13: 9251095639

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The report begins by reviewing the evidence to date focussing on the magnitude and geographical distribution of food losses. In the next sections the role of energy in post-harvest losses is discussed. Thereafter, the main entry points within the food value chain where lack of access to energy is the dominant factor influencing food losses is discussed. This report outlines low cost and off-grid post-harvest cooling and processing technologies that can be made available in developing countries. These household to community scale evaporative cooling systems, solar assisted cooling systems and as well as solar drying systems that can help increase shelf life . Additionally, through case studies, focus is laid on assessing the technical and economic feasibility of cooling and processing technologies. Finally, recommendations are made that could be incorporated to further develop food loss strategies that can classify food value chains based on their energy demand. This will enable policy makers to quickly understand the main technologies for food preservation and processing that can be introduced based on the available energy sources in a given region.