Renewable Energy Benefits: Off-grid renewable energy applications in agriculture 23 June 2016
IRENA s workstream on off-grid and socio-economic Growing body of work on renewable energy applications in the agriculture sector, but limited knowledge on the socio-economic benefits
Agriculture and sustainable development 55% of world population in rural areas 70% of world s poor in rural areas 86% of rural people (2.5 billion) rely on agriculture for livelihood Source: IFAD 30% of total primary energy consumption used for food A fundamental way of increasing productivity and incomes in the agriculture sector is to enhance access to more reliable and cost-effective modern energy services.
Agriculture and energy Access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy can help Reduce the cost of inputs Improve yields and quality Reduce losses, and Increase overall income and welfare Decentralised renewable energy technologies well-suited for meeting energy demands in an affordable, reliable and environmentally-sustainable manner IRENA s Renewable energy in the water, energy and food nexus (January 2015) report discussed opportunities for renewable energy deployment in the agriculture sector.
Energy along the agri-food chain Substantial opportunities for integration of renewable energy in the agri-food chain, providing sustainable, reliable and cost-effective modern energy inputs. 5
Assessing socio-economic benefits Agro-processing Cooking and water heating Socio-economic impacts Water pumping for irrigation Drying produce Refrigeration Lighting and communication 6
Agro-processing through improved watermills in Nepal Installation of water mills for rice de-husking (2.27 kw plant) Project implemented by the Center for Rural Technology Nepal (CRT/N) in participation of local communities with support from GIZ-EnDev and SNV Netherlands Project handed over to committee after construction who owns, maintains and manages Benefits of using improved water mills: Reduced workload and improved living standards of farmers, particularly women and children Improved health and financial security of farmers Improved Water Mill with Metal turbine and shaft Simple technology requiring little maintenance 8,493 IWMs and 25 Improved Watermills with Electrification (IWME) installed between 2003 and 2013 Increased the power and efficiency of the traditional system by 80 90% Increase in the grinding capacity from about 10-15 kg of grain per hour to about 25 30 kg per hour Initiated other activities such as floriculture, fisheries, small-scale industries beekeeping (2 10 boxes can give a return of about USD 580 per year) Investment of USD 810 gave a return of USD 135 a month Women empowerment 4.68 percent are owned by women Considerable job creation. The installation of 8,493 water mills has created additional employment for around 7,572 people. 7
Promoting domestic biogas digesters in Vietnam Biogas programme initiated by SNV in partnership with the Vietnamese Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development (MARD) and implemented through the Department of Livestock Production 150 000 biogas digestors installed so far in Vietnam. Institutional set up ensures maximum domestic ownership of the biogas programme. Feedstock is animal manure Long-term objective is to create a commercial market for biogas digestors, with SNV adopting an exit strategy for the support provided. Biogas mainly used for household cooking and feed for animals (28.5%). Other, less prominent uses of biogas are: Lighting, water heating, etc. Income savings and generation Savings made on fuels: 166 USD/hh in 2013 if the hh buys all fuel 54 USD annually on average Reduced electricity consumption: Annual savings 69.62 kwh/yr/hh = 4.5 USD/hh/year Use of bioslurry: Savings on fertilizer of 22.6 USD/year Average hh saves 175 USD/year if market prices are considered and 63.6 USD/year Job creation > 1000 active micro enterprises with on average 4 people per team for 15-10 days per digester Around 774 direct FTE annually for the project Trained masons earned approximately 90% more and untrained assistants around 45% more than the average GDP/capita of USD 1,028 in the same year Time savings 1.48 hours saved per day on fuel collection Annual time saving equivalent to 30% full time job per family 8
Solar water pumping for irrigation Solar-powered irrigation pumps offer a sustainable and reliable option for water pumping, with benefits for both farmers as well as governments. Farmers Reliable energy supply Improved crop yields and food security Increased incomes Climate resilience Additional benefits for health, education and poverty alleviation Local and national Reduction in electricity and fuel use Subsidy savings Reduced fuel imports Improved reliability of power system Increased agriculture economic output Emissions reduction www.irena.org Source: IDCOL, Bangladesh
Assessing socio-economic benefits Agro-processing Economic impacts Cooking and water heating Socio-economic impacts Water pumping for irrigation Drying produce Refrigeration Lighting and communication Health impacts Environmental impacts Impact on wellbeing Impact on education Off-grid renewable energy applications in the agriculture sector offer substantial opportunities for stimulating socio-economic development 10
Linkages between renewables and SDGs Achieving the Sustainable Development Goal on energy will transform the energy system while helping meet other SDGs Source: IRENA
The way forward Building the knowledge base on the socio-economic impacts of renewable energy deployment Assessing cross-sector opportunities for renewable energy to achieve multiple development goals Developing state-of-the-art policy analysis on renewable energy-based mini-grid deployment Providing international platforms to facilitate cross-regional exchange of best practices and lessons learnt
SAVE-THE-DATE 3 rd International Off-grid Renewable Energy Conference a nd Exhibition (IOREC) 30 Sept 1 Oct 2016; Nairobi, Kenya More information and registration soon on: www.iorec.org