RENEWABLES 2023 GLOBAL STATUS REPORT

Renewables in Energy Demand

Challenges and Opportunities for the Uptake of Renewables in Agriculture

Challenges

The lack of robust data on energy uses in agriculture and fisheries, especially for small-scale actors, makes it difficult to track progress in renewable energy adoption and to understand the policy gaps that need to be filled. 95

The seasonal nature of agricultural income, coupled with the capital-intensive structure of most renewable energy investments, makes affordability a challenge for small and medium-sized actors in agri-food chains. 96

Agricultural policies and energy policies tend to operate in silos, and policy frameworks and incentives to encourage the adoption of renewables in agriculture remain limited and insufficient.

Opportunities

Farmers can increase their incomes by adding value through the use of renewable technologies in their production processes.

The use of renewables offers the opportunity to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and protect farmers from price volatility and supply shocks.

Opportunities exist to improve co-ordination among government ministries and other stakeholders in setting policies and collecting data.

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  4. Ibid.4
  5. International Energy Agency (IEA), “World Energy Balances 2020: Extended Energy Balances,” August 2022, https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/data-product/world-energy-balances, all rights reserved, as modified by the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21).5
  6. Based on IEA data, op. cit. note 5.6
  7. European Commission, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, “Energy Efficiency,” https://stecf.jrc.ec.europa.eu/web/ee, accessed December 23, 2022.7
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  9. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), “FAOSTAT,” https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/GN, accessed January 10, 2023.9
  10. Ibid. The dimensionless conversion factors used are: GWP-CH4 = 21 and GWP-N2O = 310 (100-year time horizon global warming potential), from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “SAR Climate Change 1995: The Science of Climate Change,” 1995, Table 4, https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar2/wg1.10
  11. Ibid.11
  12. Figure 14 from IEA data, op. cit. note 5.12
  13. Ibid.13
  14. Ibid.14
  15. Ibid.15
  16. Ibid.16
  17. International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and FAO, “Renewable Energy for Agri-Food Systems: Towards the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement,” 2021, http://www.fao.org/3/cb7433en/cb7433en.pdf.17
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  20. IRENA and FAO, “Renewable Energy and Agri-Food Systems: Advancing Energy and Food Security Towards Sustainable Development Goals,” 2021, http://www.fao.org/3/cb7433en/cb7433en.pdf. 20
  21. Ibid..21
  22. Lighting Global, “Market Research on Productive Use Leveraging Solar Energy (PULSE),” September 23, 2019, https://www.lightingglobal.org/resource/pulse-market-opportunity.22
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  24. IRENA and FAO, op. cit. note 17.24
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  26. IRENA and FAO, op. cit. note 17. 26
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  29. REN21 Policy Database, op. cit. note 27. 29
  30. Figure 15 from Ibid.30
  31. Ibid.31
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  47. IRENA and FAO, op. cit. note 20.47
  48. Ibid.48
  49. Ibid.49
  50. Acumen, “Acumen Launches a $25 Million Investment Initiative to Power Livelihoods with Clean Energy,” July 12, 2022, https://acumen.org/blog/acumen-launches-a-25-million-investment-initiative-to-power-livelihoods-with-clean-energy.50
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  53. M. Raji, personal communication with REN21, February 1, 2023.53
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  66. Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), “Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report 2022: Outlook,” October 17, 2022, https://esmap.org/Off-Grid_Solar_Market_Trends_Report_2022_Outlook.66
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  68. Green Climate Fund, “Hydro-Agricultural Development with Smart Agriculture Practices Resilient to Climate Change in Niger,” October 7, 2021, https://www.greenclimate.fund/project/fp176.68
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  72. Based on IEA data, op. cit. note 5.72
  73. Fraunhofer ISE, op. cit. note 35.73
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  75. Fraunhofer ISE, op. cit. note 35.75
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  77. CLIENT II, “SHRIMPS – Solar-Aquaculture Habitats as Resource-Efficient and Integrated Multilayer Production Systems,” https://www.bmbf-client.de/en/projects/shrimps, accessed January 4, 2023.77
  78. Ibid.78
  79. B. Santos, “Floating Solar Tech for Aquaculture,” pv magazine, January 4, 2023, https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/01/04/floating-solar-tech-for-aquaculture.79
  80. IRENA, “Accelerating Geothermal Heat Adoption in the Agri-Food Sector,” January 2019, https://www.irena.org/publications/2019/Jan/Accelerating-geothermal-heat-adoption-in-the-agri-food-sector.80
  81. Ibid. 81
  82. Ibid; FAO, op. cit. note 76.82
  83. IRENA, op. cit. note 80.83
  84. IRENA and FAO, op. cit. note 20.84
  85. Ibid.85
  86. FAO, op. cit. note 76.86
  87. Based on IEA data, op. cit. note 5.87
  88. Ibid.88
  89. IRENA and FAO, op. cit. note 20.89
  90. Ibid.90
  91. Ibid.91
  92. Ibid.92
  93. Green Climate Fund, “Climate Resilient Fishery Initiative for Livelihood Improvement in the Gambia (PROREFISH Gambia),” July 20, 2022, https://www.greenclimate.fund/project/fp188.93
  94. R. Van Anrooy et al., op. cit. note 18.94
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