Energy Engineering Approach for Rural Areas Cattle Farmers in Bangladesh to Reduce COVID-19 Impact on Food-Safety

Abstract

This paper reports on the optimization of thin-film coating assisted self-sustainable off-grid hybrid power generation systems for cattle farming in rural areas of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a lower middle-income country with declining rates of poverty among its 160 million people due to persistent economic growth in conjunction with balanced agricultural improvements. Most of the rural households adopt a mixed farming system by cultivating crops and simultaneously rearing livestock. Among the animals raised, cattle are considered as the most valuable asset for the small/medium-scale farmers in terms of their meat and milk production. Currently, along with the major health issue, the COVID-19 pandemic is hindering the world’s economic growth and has thrust millions into unemployment; Bangladesh is also in this loop. However, natural disasters such as COVID-19 pandemic and floods, largely constrain rural smallholder cattle farmers from climbing out of their poverty. In particular, small and medium-scale cattle farmers face many issues that obstruct them from taking advantage of market opportunities and imposing a greater burden on their families and incomes. An appropriate measure can give a way to make those cattle farmers’ businesses both profitable and sustainable. Optimization of thin-film coating assisted self-sustainable off-grid hybrid power generation system for cattle farming is a new and forward-looking approach for sustainable development of the livestock sector. In this study, we design and optimize a thin-film coating assisted hybrid (photovoltaic-battery-generator) power system by using the Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER, Version 3.14.0) simulation tool. An analysis of the results has suggested that the off-grid hybrid system is more feasible for small and medium-scale cattle farming systems with long-term sustainability to overcome the significant challenges faced by smallholder cattle farmers in Bangladesh.

The effects on European importers’ food safety controls in the time of COVID-19

“…Similarly, Gregorioa and Ancog (2020) concluded that, in Southeast Asia, the experience of this pandemic should be drawn upon to ensure food safety by treating it as a coordinated problem between the public and private sectors. In a study carried out in Bangladesh, Nur-E-Alam et al (2020) recommended meeting citizens’ food needs with local supplies to minimise the risk of impacts on food safety. By drawing on Internet survey data of 1,373 residents in China, Min et al (2020) found that consumers’ food safety knowledge has a significant and positive effect on their food safety behaviour.…”

Combinational Approach of Energy Management for Sustainable Food and Crop Storage Facilities: A Research Concept

“…So far we have conducted a slightly different research work (simulation based) based on this concept and reported in a high impact journal "Sustainability" [45]. In the reported article, we demonstrated the design and optimization of a thin-film coating-assisted, self-sustainable, energy-efficient and cost-effective off-grid hybrid (photovoltaic-battery-generator) power system suitable for advanced cattle farming in Bangladesh which is a new and forward-looking approach for sustainable development of the livestock sector.…”

“…In the reported article, we demonstrated the design and optimization of a thin-film coating-assisted, self-sustainable, energy-efficient and cost-effective off-grid hybrid (photovoltaic-battery-generator) power system suitable for advanced cattle farming in Bangladesh which is a new and forward-looking approach for sustainable development of the livestock sector. Based on the simulation results, we recommended that energy engineering together with the advanced building material coatings can be the model for modern farming in any rural areas, and can help to reduce the carbon emission footprint as well [45]. However, the practical demonstration of this work is an on-going research program within our group depending on the availability of sufficient research funds.…”