Potential for renewable energy–assisted harvesting of potatoes in Scotland

Muneer, Tariq; Dowell, Rory

Abstract

Depleting energy resources, enhancing energy security and energy access and approaching climate change related challenges are some of the present day challenges. Against this backdrop, renewable energy (RE)-based farming has been a topic of serious discussion within Great Britain and Scotland. There are multiple advantages in the development and applications of RE micro-grids for farming communities as often they are located in areas that are quite remote and hence their energy sustainability provides security of supply. In the present article, a large-scale RE system that included solar photovoltaic and wind turbine has been critically analyzed with respect to its fractional contribution toward the total energy budget of a potato farm that produces 8000 tons of crops annually, with 4500 tons of the produce in cold storage for up to 8 months. The findings and recommendations from these case studies will help renewable energy practitioners in erecting and analyzing similar installations.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 25, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Mar 1, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022
• Deposit Date: Apr 28, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 28, 2022
• Print ISSN: 1748-1317
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 17
• Pages: 469-481
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ijlct/ctac012
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2867784