Solar or Diesel: A Comparison of Costs for Groundwater‐Fed Irrigation in Sub‐Saharan Africa Under Two Energy Solutions

Xie, Hui; Ringler, Claudia; Mondal, Md. Alam Hossain

doi:10.1029/2020ef001611

Cited by 37 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…A transition from rainfed to irrigated agriculture also has energy implications [178]. Most irrigation practices require energy to move water from the abstraction source to the field and are usually powered with fossil fuels-based energy sources, such as diesel-powered irrigation pumps [179]. In countries with intensive irrigated agriculture, the energy used for irrigation systems is considerable [180,181].…”

Section: Energy Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adapting agriculture to climate change via sustainable irrigation: biophysical potentials and feedbacks

Rosa

2022

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Irrigated agriculture accounts for ∼90% of anthropogenic freshwater consumption, is deployed on 22% of cultivated land, and provides 40% of global food production. Expanding irrigation onto currently underperforming rainfed croplands is crucial to meet future global food demand without further agricultural expansion and associated encroachment of natural ecosystems. Establishing irrigation is also a potential climate adaptation solution to alleviate heat- and water-stress to crops and reduce climate variability and extremes. Despite irrigation being one of the land management practices with the largest environmental and hydroclimatic impacts, the role of irrigation to adapt agriculture to climate change and achieve global sustainability goals has just started to be quantified. This study reviews biophysical opportunities and feedbacks of ‘sustainable irrigation’. I describe the concept of sustainable irrigation expansion—where there are opportunities to increase agricultural productivity over currently water-limited rainfed croplands by adopting irrigation practices that do not deplete freshwater stocks and impair aquatic ecosystems. Expanding sustainable irrigation may avert agricultural expansion but create additional externalities that are often neglected. This review highlights major gaps in the analysis and understanding on the role of sustainable irrigation expansion to adapt agriculture to climate change. This study reviews the implications of a potential sustainable irrigation expansion on (a) global food security, (b) hydroclimatic conditions, (c) water quality, (d) soil salinization, (e) water storage infrastructure, and (f) energy use. These implications help to explain the challenges of achieving sustainability in irrigated agriculture and thus also point toward solutions and future research needs.

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Section: Energy Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adapting agriculture to climate change via sustainable irrigation: biophysical potentials and feedbacks

Rosa

2022

Environ. Res. Lett.

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“…Secondly, the geospatial power demand to deliver the irrigation water must be estimated, In [20], a water balance exercise is used as a basis to estimate irrigation electricity demand on a geospatial basis in Tanzania. A similar methodology is applied in [22][23][24]. Those studies do not, however, consider the potential impacts of different soil types or the implications for irrigation water and electricity demand induced by a drought.…”

Section: Previous Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A GIS-Based Approach to Estimate Electricity Requirements for Small-Scale Groundwater Irrigation

Nilsson

Mentis

Korkovelos

et al. 2021

IJGI

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Access to modern energy services is a precondition to improving livelihoods and building resilience against climate change. Still, electricity reaches only about half of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), while about 40% live under the poverty line. Heavily reliant on the agriculture sector and increasingly affected by prolonged droughts, small-scale irrigation could be instrumental for development and climate change adaptation in SSA countries. A bottom-up understanding of the demand for irrigation and associated energy services is essential for designing viable energy supply options in an effective manner. Using Uganda as a case study, the study introduces a GIS-based methodology for the estimation of groundwater irrigation requirements through which energy demand is derived. Results are generated for two scenarios: (a) a reference scenario and (b) a drought scenario. The most critical need is observed in the northern and southern regions of the country. The total annual irrigation demand is estimated to be ca. 90 thousand m3, with the highest demand observed in the months of December through February, with an average irrigation demand of 445 mm per month. The highest energy demand is observed in the northern part of the study area in January, reaching 48 kWh/ha. The average energy demand increases by 67% in the drought scenario. The study contributes to current gaps in the existing literature by providing a replicable methodological framework and data aimed at facilitating energy system planning through the consideration of location-specific characteristics at the nexus of energy–water–agriculture.

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“…1 Another study mapped the economic feasibility of solar-based irrigation versus diesel-based irrigation based on cropping patterns, and technology costs of solar and diesel pumps, as well as a series of biophysical factors using life cycle analysis across sub-Saharan Africa. Groundwater-fed solar irrigation was found to be cost-effective in southern and central Africa but less so in countries that subsidize diesel fuel (Angola, Nigeria and Sudan), and economic feasibility was higher where more waterintensive crops were irrigated (Xie et al 2021). An important takeaway of this study is that results vary across location and scenarios, and they depend on factors such as sunlight, cropping systems, and fossil-fuel subsidies.…”

Section: Mapping Of Productive Usesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accelerating rural energy access for agricultural transformation: contribution of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems to transforming food, land and water systems in a climate crisis

Magalhaes¹,

Ringler²,

Verma³

et al. 2021

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With adverse impacts of climate change growing in number and intensity, there is an urgent need to reduce emissions from food systems to net zero. This can only be achieved if rural areas in low-and middle-income countries gain access to clean energy. A review of the research and capacity building contributions of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) over the last 10 years suggests important contributions in the areas of energy policy and energy investment planning, cost and feasibility frameworks, and business models for clean energy technology uptake. WLE has also conducted successful pilot projects on solar irrigation to provide an evidence base for scaling up innovative energy initiatives. Finally, the program also considered non-agricultural uses of energy where relevant to food systems, and implemented capacity building activities.Going forward, CGIAR has a key role to play in providing information, supporting access and piloting innovative, scalable clean energy interventions to support the achievement of multiple impacts for the poorest and most food-insecure women and men farmers and entrepreneurs.

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Solar or Diesel: A Comparison of Costs for Groundwater‐Fed Irrigation in Sub‐Saharan Africa Under Two Energy Solutions

Cited by 37 publications

References 42 publications

Adapting agriculture to climate change via sustainable irrigation: biophysical potentials and feedbacks

Adapting agriculture to climate change via sustainable irrigation: biophysical potentials and feedbacks

A GIS-Based Approach to Estimate Electricity Requirements for Small-Scale Groundwater Irrigation

Accelerating rural energy access for agricultural transformation: contribution of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems to transforming food, land and water systems in a climate crisis

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