How to supply farms with power especially from renewable sources
Contents
1. How to supply farms with power especially from renewable sources………........3
2. Translation of the text………………………………….………………….............4
3. Terms……………………………………………………………………...............6
4. Questions………………………………………….……………………................6
5. Еxercise…………………………………………………………………...............7
6. Annotation…………………………..……………….………………..............…..7
7. Bibliography……………………….………………………………..............…….8
How to supply farms with power especially from renewable sources
In the first instance, it should be noted that electrical energy in general point of view is the most effective and versatile energy carrier. In fact, electricity consumption is increasing everywhere in the world and in all the sectors. However, it requires expensive and sometimes high – technological plants, difficult to analyze in a few pages, due to the extreme variability from one situation to another (the spectrum of socioeconomic situations and of size of plants considered in this report is too broad).
Electricity is an essential element in all productive processes. In both agricultural and manufacturing industries, however its irreplaceable importance is often underrated. Indeed, in industrialized countries it may be observed that electricity: often does not have a significant impact on production costs; at present it easy to find; does not pose important technical problems. On the other hand, electricity becomes a priority when one of these conditions no longer holds, which is the typical situation in developing countries. The question of power supply and the choice of related technologies is generally tackled using quite different criteria, depending on the existence or absence of grids for the continuous supply of energy. In the latter case, the main problem concerns the technical aspects associated with energy self-sufficiency (i.e., essential requirements will have to be met even at high costs). In the former case, however, the following factors are important: the price of electricity; the convenience and reliability of the service; the risks connected with individual energy production.
Although food production requires relatively little energy, agriculture in the developed countries is critically dependent upon fossil energy. In developing countries conventional energy consumption is much smaller, but there is a need to modernize the sector, increasing the use of more advanced (and energy-intensive) technologies. In addition, there is increasing concern in relation to the environment and, in particular, on the long-term effect due to the global warming. In fact, agriculture accounts for about one-fifth of the projected greenhouse gases, producing about 50% and 70% respectively, of overall methane, nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide emissions. Promising approaches for mitigation include more efficient conventional technologies and a large utilization of the renewable sources.
Taking into account these issues, the autonomous power supply should primarily deal with environmentally sound technologies and energy sources. In particular, the agricultural sector offers the most concrete opportunity for using renewable sources. In fact: farm power requirements are generally moderate and they sometimes match the availability of renewable sources; electricity could be required in remote areas (easy to find also in grid-connected farms), some renewable sources (i.e. biomass) are unique to agriculture.
On the other hand, most of the renewable sources ( i. e. solar and wind energy) are intermittent and relevant energy should be stored in order to meet the requirements. Consequently, plants are expensive and often need attention. Some important farm operations are seasonable or typically 20-60 days per year (i.e. drying in mild-climate countries). Then, it is necessary to reduce investments for energy plants and structures. Some applications need a reliable power source. In this context, a double plant (conventional and renewable sources) could be required.
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