Because the strain on the agricultural sector continues, good useful resource administration and searching for sustainable power options will help farmers meet international meals calls for
Agriculture has all the time 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 circumstances, to jostling for best option of land use, the sector is more and more beneath strain to turn out to be not simply meals producers, however power suppliers as properly. This problem should push us to rethink how we work together with the environment and use house and know-how in new and revolutionary 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 all types of recent methods to seize all of the ‘free’ power we are able to. 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 via 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 power
It’s fairly profound, however the largest ‘battery’ within the UK is water, pumped up mountains into massive reservoirs utilizing extra electrical energy. When there’s a spike in demand, the water is launched via generators, and rapidly 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 essentially the most smart method. On-shore wind supplies the chance to co-locate power 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 offered is a every day prevalence. Whether or not that’s via elevated crop yields or by utilizing equipment within the optimum strategy to scale back gasoline consumed. Actually, many farmers at this time will not be solely meals producers however power producers too, taking advantage of wind generators and photo voltaic panels.
The challenges and potential of hydrogen
It’s this similar spirit that we attempt to embody at JCB – to make use of what now we have 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, current 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 inventive methods of manufacturing hydrogen domestically, 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 power demanded. However eight billion folks on the planet additionally means eight billion brains to give you revolutionary and inventive 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 properly.
This text first appeared within the October problem of iVT.
