Anitha Subburaj – West Texas A&M University
World’s population is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050 and there is a big difference in the amount of food and type of food we produce today and what is expected in 2050. The United States of America (USA) is a major player in agriculture and breadbasket for the world, and USA Agriculture heavily relies on irrigation. About 15% of harvested land in the US is irrigated, which contributes to 40% of the country’s agriculture production. According to the 2018 Irrigation and Water Management Survey, about 50% of the land in irrigated land relies on surface water and 50% on ground water and 72% of the irrigated land uses pressurized irrigation system which needs the water to be pumped. According to the study by Brigham Young University, an estimated 60.6 TWh of energy is total energy, including 37.5 TWh of total electrical energy is uses in 2018 to apply 83.4 million ac-ft of water to cropland. This number is increasing as more forms are shifting to irrigation due to climate change, and more and more farm equipment’s are getting electrified, it creates a greater potential to incorporate renewable energy systems in the farm. We investigated the possibility of PV, Wind and energy storage for various irrigated agricultural operation and developed a comprehensive chart to help farmers identify if renewable is right for them. Preliminary modeling results shows that PV and wind systems are very much a viable option to power irrigation and other farm activities, while energy storage can be viable under certain scenarios. The study also highlights the policy changes that utility providers have to address to make such systems economically viable in a widespread way.
