Because the stress on the agricultural sector continues, good useful resource administration and searching for sustainable vitality options will help farmers meet international 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 international inhabitants in quickly altering climate situations, to jostling for most suitable option of land use, the sector is more and more beneath stress to turn into not simply meals producers, however vitality suppliers as nicely. This problem should push us to rethink how we work together with the environment and use area and know-how in new and modern methods.
The important thing to overcoming these challenges is cleverly utilizing every little thing round us, with out sacrificing meals for gasoline. Collectively, we have to consider every kind of recent methods to seize all of the ‘free’ vitality we are able to. Can we use cell photo voltaic panels, simply once we want them? Can we flip a parked-up machine right into a cell wind turbine? Can we retailer the rainwater excessive up and run it by way of a turbine once we want the electrical energy?
“The important thing to overcoming these challenges is cleverly utilizing every little 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 way 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 might 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 probably the most smart approach. On-shore wind offers 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 assets offered is a day by day prevalence. Whether or not that’s by way of elevated crop yields or through the use of equipment within the optimum solution to scale back gasoline consumed. In reality, many farmers as we speak aren’t solely meals producers however vitality producers too, taking advantage of wind generators and photo voltaic panels.
The challenges and potential of hydrogen
It’s this similar spirit that we try to embody at JCB – to make use of what we’ve got round us in probably the most smart approach, to create actual change sooner or later. Take the JCB hydrogen engine – it’s utilising recognized elements, present manufacturing and engineering know-how and turning it on its head to create one thing brand-new, with actually world- altering potential. What we want now could be 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 modern and artistic options – our international 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 nicely.
This text first appeared within the October situation of iVT.
