Sustainability of Agricultural Production in Communal Areas of Zimbabwe: Case of Chionekano Communal Lands (original) (raw)
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Energy For Sustainable Agricultural Development In Zimbabwe
Growth and Change, 1992
Zimbabwe's 1992 food crisis revealed both spatial and social contradictions associated with post-independence agricultural growth. Zimbabwe's pattern of agricultural restructuring demonstrates the need for agrarian reform programs that are more socially and environmentally sustainable. This paper examines one aspect of agricultural sustainability-the use of energy. Post-independence patterns of agricultural energy consumption are analyzed and traced historically, and the social relations of agricultural energy utilization are investigated. The energetic efficiencies of the primary farming systems are calculated as are the macro-flows of energy to agriculture generally. The data and historical analysis point to the need for a restructuring of agriculture that involves greater reliance on local renewable energy in all farming systems, and the continued resettlement of black smallholders onto former white-settler estates.
The potential for energy production from crop residues in Zimbabwe
Biomass and Bioenergy, 2008
There is increasing interest in Zimbabwe in the use of renewable energy sources as a means of meeting the country's energy requirements. Biomass provides 47% of the gross energy consumption in Zimbabwe. Energy can be derived from various forms of biomass using various available conversion technologies. Crop residues constitute a large part of the biomass available from the country's agriculture-based economy. The potential for energy production of crop residues is examined using data such as estimates of the quantities of the residues and their energy content. The major crops considered are maize, sugarcane, cotton, soyabeans, groundnuts, wheat, sorghum, fruits and forestry plantations. Quantities of residues are estimated from crop yields by using conversion coefficients for the various crops. Long-term crop yields data from 1970 to 1999 were used. Total annual residue yields for crops, fruits and forestry plantations are 7.805 Mt, 378 kt and 3.05 Mt, respectively. The crops, fruits and forestry residues have energy potential of 81.5, 4.9 and 44.3 PJ per year, respectively. This represents about 44% of the gross energy consumption in Zimbabwe. The need to balance use of crop residues for both energy purposes and other purposes such as animal feeding and soil fertility improvement is also highlighted.
IEEE Access
Fossil fuel-based energy sources are the major contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and thus the use of renewable energy (RE) is becoming the best alternative to cater for the increasing energy demand in both developing and developed nations. Chipendeke is a rural community in Zimbabwe, in which electricity demand is partially served by the only micro-hydro plant and hence, load shedding is a regular practice to keep essential services running. This study explored a suitable opportunity to identify a feasible system with different energy sources that can fulfill the current and projected future load demand of the community. A techno-economic feasibility study for a hybrid RE based power system (REPS) is examined considering various energy sources and cost functions. Six different system configurations have been designed with different sizing combinations to identify the most optimum solution for the locality considering techno-economic and environmental viability. The performance metrics considered to evaluate the best suitable model are; Net Present Cost (NPC), Cost of Energy (COE), Renewable Fraction (RF), excess energy and seasonal load variations. In-depth, sensitivity analyses have been performed to investigate the variations of the studied models with a little variation of input variables. Of the studied configurations, an off-grid hybrid Hydro/PV/DG/Battery system was found to be the most economically feasible compared to other configurations. This system had the lowest NPC and COE of 307,657and307,657 and 307,657and0.165/kWh respectively and the highest RF of 87.5%. The proposed hybrid system could apply to any other remote areas in the region and anywhere worldwide. INDEX TERMS Chipendeke, Zimbabwe, hybrid renewable energy power systems, hydro, solar photovoltaic, battery, diesel generator. I. INTRODUCTION Energy particularly electrical energy is an essential part of modern days living, business and innovation. Access to The associate editor coordinating the review of this manuscript and approving it for publication was Khursheed Aurangzeb. electricity increases the potential to improve living standards, increase opportunity, improve health, productivity and reduces poverty [1]-[3]. It is now considered a basic human right for modern-day living, however, it is not equally experienced by all. More than half a billion people in Sub-Saharan Africa still do not have access to basic electrical energy
A Review on Renewable Energy Systems for Irrigation in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions
Journal of Power and Energy Engineering
The lack of water in arid and semi-arid regions has often limited agricultural production. Indeed, even where water is available for irrigation, the lack of electricity, as well as the high costs of diesel, has created constraints on small farmers. The purpose of this research is to review the renewable energy potential available in arid and semi-arid zones that can be used for irrigation as a substitute for fossil fuels. In this review, the solar thermal irrigation, solar photovoltaic (PV) irrigation, wind pumping and biomass pumping are discussed. The comparison of different hybrid pumping systems and analyses of renewable sources irrigation assessment in arid and semi-arid regions of Mozambique also are discussed. The results of this study showed that there are still certain technological limitations regarding the use of solar thermal energy for irrigation. As far as wind power is concerned, the analysis of the pumping water life cycle cost showed that the wind power water pumping system is more economical and viable compared to the diesel based system. However, the study concluded that photovoltaic solar energy has been shown to be more viable for pumping water for irrigation in arid and semi-arid regions.
INTRODUCTION TO RENEWABLE ENERGIES IN AFRICA
INTRODUCTION TO RENEWABLE ENERGIES IN AFRICA, 2019
Compared to the rest of the world, there is a general shortage of energy related information in Africa (on potential of energy resources, actual installed systems and current energy use). This lack of information is even more apparent for renewable energies. It is indeed difficult to compare the potentialities for the different energy options due to the scattered validated information. Nevertheless, available data sources are in agreement in describing a difficult situation as far as access to energy is concerned. The high share of rural population, coupled with the low ability and willingness to pay, the low per capita energy consumption and the high rate of non-electrified rural areas, has traditionally pushed rural communities to make use of locally available energy sources, mostly biomass from agriculture residues and forest ad savannah wood for their daily cooking and heating needs. Renewable energy resources are diffuse in the territory and mapping their physical availability can only be the first step in understanding their exploitation especially for people without modern forms of energy in Africa. A deep knowledge of the existing and feasible energy infrastructures is fundamental for moving towards the assessment of the economically utilizable renewable energy. Indeed, according to IEA data, 99.6% of the African population without electricity access is concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries, reflecting the great disparities in the different African regions caused also by the still unbalanced development of the energy production and transport infrastructures in the continent. In summary, if properly exploited, renewable energies are a big opportunity for improving the currently very poor access to energy for rural communities. Keywords: Access to renewable energy, current state of energy, exploitation, infrastructure, availability Introduction Energy is crucial in the fight against poverty, as it is among the greatest drivers of development. Ancient and modern civilizations rose on the back of energy. From captive humans to coal and oil, energy has played a central role in human progress, as it enables mass production of goods and services [ ]. A paradigm shift in transitioning to a new form of energy defines human progress as well as its quality of civilization. However, a step in achieving this progression does not happen until a society fully recognizes the heavy economic, social and environmental costs arising from the energy form it is using. While oil and coal are far more efficient than rudimentary energy forms, they also come with bouts of economic, social, and environmental costs. When a society is not prepared for a change, that society can continue to stick with what it has and knows best. This is true of South Sudan, as it seems to stick to oil, a form of energy that is not able to meet its needs in an efficient and sustainable manner. The African countries must prepare as there is an opportunity for them to transition to an efficient and renewable energy, and this can happen when they fully recognize the costs associated with the exploitation of fossil fuel and embarks on a full transition to renewable energy. Access to Energy in African Countries Compared to the rest of the world, there is a general shortage of energy related information in Africa (on potential of energy resources, actual installed systems and current energy use). This lack of information is even more apparent for renewable energies. It is indeed difficult to compare the potential for the different energy options due to the scattered validated information. Nevertheless, available data sources are in agreement in describing a difficult situation as far as access to energy is concerned.
Wind/solar Hybrid system in Zimbabwe
Renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, hydro power, biomass and geothermal resources are considered for clean energy generation. Solar and wind energy are two of the most viable renewable energy sources. Electricity energy generation by photovoltaic’s solar cells and wind turbine increased rapidly in recent years. This presentation highlights the feasibility of operating both energy sources, wind and solar alongside one another in order to take advantage of their complementary characters. With this combination, the optimum utilization of resources and thus improves the efficiency as compared with their individual generation mode can achieve. Also the hybrid Wind and Solar system increases the reliability and reduces the dependence on one single source. In this presentation we will also give details of a test project Kayla Technologies is running in Mrehwa Zimbabwe to prove feasibility of the system.
2011
Rural poverty in developing countries is a social problem that is well recognized and causes concern globally. The UN recently met to review the MDG's 1 and acknowledge that there was limited progress to date; a looming target date have highlighted the difficulty in addressing development issues on the ground where people are trying to survive, often on as little as $2 per day or less. This paper demonstrates the model of rural village energy services centres by using solar energy to provide solution to most of the problems of a typical African rural village. This stand alone system provides energy services solution leveraging sustainable resources in a holistic, communityintegrated fashion to improve health, information, communication, education and preserving the environment while it kick-starts micro-economies in rural villages. It intends to increase productivity and ultimately eradicate poverty. This solution is still in a prototype stage but has its special interest because it hopes to provide clean water and biogas apart from the solar generated electricity. Through the implementation of community energy services, stand alone decentralised solutions intend to divert rural current expenditure on kerosene, offering significant reductions in carbon emissions, environmental damage and respiratory-illness related deaths which were recently estimated at 1.6M per annum worldwide as per a World Bank report. This corresponding increase in energy efficiency drives an increase in productivity and thus a step closer to the realization of the MDGs as has been documented in various case studies (Annual Report 2008 (. (2008). Renewable Energy Services for Developing Countries-In Support of the Millenium Development Goals) [8]. This paper covers the technology implementation starting from demand until it reaches the level of success which then makes it suitable for replication.