Because the stress on the agricultural sector continues, sensible useful resource administration and looking for sustainable vitality options may also help farmers meet world meals calls for
Agriculture has at all times been the spine of civilisation, however now, as with most different sectors, it faces unprecedented challenges. From feeding a rising world inhabitants in quickly altering climate circumstances, to jostling for best option of land use, the sector is more and more underneath stress to develop into not simply meals producers, however vitality suppliers as effectively. This problem should push us to rethink how we work together with our surroundings and use area and expertise in new and progressive methods.
The important thing to overcoming these challenges is cleverly utilizing every thing round us, with out sacrificing meals for gasoline. Collectively, we have to consider all types of recent methods to seize all of the ‘free’ vitality we will. Can we use cellular photo voltaic panels, simply once we want them? Can we flip a parked-up machine right into a cellular wind turbine? Can we retailer the rainwater excessive up and run it by means of a turbine once we want the electrical energy?
“The important thing to overcoming these challenges is cleverly utilizing every thing round us, with out sacrificing meals for gasoline”
Renewable vitality
It’s fairly profound, however the largest ‘battery’ within the UK is water, pumped up mountains into giant reservoirs utilizing extra electrical energy. When there’s a spike in demand, the water is launched by means of generators, and shortly generates gigawatts of electrical energy. One factor we’re blessed (and cursed) with within the UK is rain; think about if we may handle rainwater on farms to each generate electrical energy and irrigate crops.
Equally within the UK one factor they don’t seem to be making extra of is land, which is why it’s essential that we use it in essentially the most smart method. On-shore wind supplies the chance to co-locate vitality manufacturing with meals manufacturing – utilizing minimal land to create most output, whereas retaining the agricultural footprint for crops.
After all, to the entrepreneurial farmer, none of that is new – the ida of maximising the output of the sources supplied is a day by day prevalence. Whether or not that’s by means of elevated crop yields or through the use of equipment within the optimum method to scale back gasoline consumed. In truth, many farmers at the moment will not be solely meals producers however vitality producers too, profiting from wind generators and photo voltaic panels.
The challenges and potential of hydrogen
It’s this identical spirit that we try to embody at JCB – to make use of what we’ve round us in essentially the most smart method, to create actual change sooner or later. Take the JCB hydrogen engine – it’s utilising identified elements, present manufacturing and engineering know-how and turning it on its head to create one thing brand-new, with really world- altering potential. What we’d like now’s for a similar spirit to be turned to hydrogen manufacturing and storage – understanding new and artistic methods of manufacturing hydrogen regionally, at low value, and utilizing what we have already got round us.
We should not underestimate the challenges we now face with a rising inhabitants. Eight billion folks on the planet means extra mouths to feed and extra vitality demanded. However eight billion folks on the planet additionally means eight billion brains to give you progressive and artistic options – our world capability for altering the world round us is immense.
Agriculture has harnessed water, wind and solar to feed the world, now let’s assist farmers use water, wind and solar to energy the world as effectively.
This text first appeared within the October problem of iVT.
