How to Reduce the Carbon Footprint of an Irrigation Community in the South-East of Spain by Use of Solar Energy

• Main Authors: Jesús Chazarra-Zapata, José Miguel Molina-Martínez, Francisco-Javier Pérez de la Cruz, Dolores Parras-Burgos, Antonio Ruíz Canales
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-06-01
• Series: Energies
• Subjects: irrigation modernization; sustainable agriculture; water reuse; CO₂ reduction; circular economy
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/11/2848

The climate change that plagues the world is causing extended periods of water shortage. This situation is forcing farmers in the region of Murcia in Spain to modernize their irrigation systems to optimize use of the scarce water they have and seek a circular water economy using the recovered water. Moreover, an associated problem is the need for energy that these facilities require in order to pressurize the required water. The use of photovoltaic generation contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Food produced in this region tends to have guaranteed markets in Europe and, geographically, due to the high quality of phytosanitary controls and traceability during their marketing, their optimal cultivation, and selection and labelling is verified, specifying valuable information such as: collection date, origin, the use of organic fertilizers among others. To maintain market access, it is important to continue implementing other environmental improvements, i.e., reductions in either hydro or carbon footprints. Previous studies have failed to include the prospect of environmental use of isolated facilities to replace existing consumption, seeking the monetarization of the facility as well as prioritizing the reduction of GHG. Previous studies have failed to include the perspective of environmental use of isolated photovoltaic installations, based on existing consumption, thus, going beyond the monetarization of the facility, to prioritize the reduction of GHG applied in practice by environmentally sensitized farmers. This study was conducted in an existing facility with great technical complexity and three different sources of water supply, over 1500 plots and an altitude range in plots and reservoirs of more than 400 m.