Conceptual Design and Rationale for a New Agrivoltaics Concept: Pasture-Raised Rabbits and Solar Farming

Lytle, William; Meyer, Theresa K.; Tanikella, Nagendra Gautam; Burnham, Laurie; Engel, J.; Schelly, Chelsea; Pearce, Joshua M.

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124476

Cited by 47 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…This solution, referred to as agrovoltaics, involves the simultaneous land use for both PV and agricultural purposes. As observed, this innovative solution brings not only environmental but also economic benefits [24,25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…In countries where land for this type of investment is expensive and scarce and where favorable conditions related to solar insolation exist, solutions to combine agricultural production with electricity generation are increasingly being used [21,[23][24][25][26]. This solution, referred to as agrovoltaics, involves the simultaneous land use for both PV and agricultural purposes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Photovoltaic Farms—Economic Efficiency of Investments in North-East Poland

2021

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The abandonment of conventional sources in favor of energy from renewable energy sources (RES) has a global dimension, and the dynamic increase in the share of energy from photovoltaic systems in the energy mix of many countries results from the possibility of obtaining it both on a small scale (micro-installations) and as part of economic investments (photovoltaic power plants). The study aimed to assess the economic efficiency of 22 photovoltaic farms located in northeastern Poland. The research covered 5 solar power plants with a capacity of up to 799 kWp (I), 13 between 800 and 1100 kWp (II), and 4 installations of 1.98 MWp (III). The evaluation was based on net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), payback period (PP), profitability index (PI), accounting rate of return (ARR). Additionally, a sensitivity analysis was carried out regarding the value of economic indicators. The analysis shows that all studied PV farms are economically justified investments (NPV > 0) regardless of the adopted scenario. Solar power plants of the largest analyzed capacity (group III) resulted in being the most profitable ones, but no linear relationship between the level of productivity and profitability was established. Due to the large variation in terrain shape in northeastern Poland, landscape value and social benefits, which are difficult to assess, the support system for investments regarding the construction of photovoltaic power plants proved to be the most effective in group I.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photovoltaic Farms—Economic Efficiency of Investments in North-East Poland

2021

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“…The effects that the production of large amounts of beef has on the environment are becoming more apparent than ever as the global population grows [104]. Lytle et al explain that the greenhouse gas emissions per kg of meat associated with cattle production is reduced by more than an order of magnitude when shifting to rabbit production [105]. [55,110] For CO 2 , beef produces around 7.57 times the carbon dioxide equivalent that chicken does.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

U.S. Potential of Sustainable Backyard Distributed Animal and Plant Protein Production during and after Pandemics

et al. 2021

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To safeguard against meat supply shortages during pandemics or other catastrophes, this study analyzed the potential to provide the average household’s entire protein consumption using either soybean production or distributed meat production at the household level in the U.S. with: (1) pasture-fed rabbits, (2) pellet and hay-fed rabbits, or (3) pellet-fed chickens. Only using the average backyard resources, soybean cultivation can provide 80–160% of household protein and 0–50% of a household’s protein needs can be provided by pasture-fed rabbits using only the yard grass as feed. If external supplementation of feed is available, raising 52 chickens while also harvesting the concomitant eggs or alternately 107 grain-fed rabbits can meet 100% of an average household’s protein requirements. These results show that resilience to future pandemics and challenges associated with growing meat demands can be incrementally addressed through backyard distributed protein production. Backyard production of chicken meat, eggs, and rabbit meat reduces the environmental costs of protein due to savings in production, transportation, and refrigeration of meat products and even more so with soybeans. Generally, distributed production of protein was found to be economically competitive with centralized production of meat if distributed labor costs were ignored.

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“…The effects that the production of large amounts of beef has on the environment are becoming more apparent than ever as the global population grows [104]. Lytle et al explain that the greenhouse gas emissions per kg of meat associated with cattle production is reduced by more than an order of magnitude when shifting to rabbit production [105]. [55,110] For CO2, beef produces around 7.57 times the carbon dioxide equivalent that chicken does.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

U.S. Potential of Sustainable Backyard Distributed Animal and Plant Protein Production During & After Pandemics

Meyer¹,

Pascaris²,

Denkenberger³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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To safeguard against meat supply shortages during pandemics or other catastrophes, this study analyzed the potential to provide the average household’s entire protein consumption using either soybean production or distributed meat production at the household level in the U.S. with: 1) pasture-fed rabbits, 2) pellet and hay-fed rabbits, or 3) pellet-fed chickens. Only using the average backyard resources, soybean cultivation can provide 80%-160% of household protein and 0%-50% of a household’s protein needs can be provided by pasture-fed rabbits using only the yard grass as feed. If external supplementation of feed is available, raising 52 chickens while also harvesting the concomitant eggs or alternately 107 grain-fed rabbits can meet 100% of an average household’s protein requirements. These results show that resilience to future pandemics and challenges associated with growing meat demands can be incrementally addressed through backyard distributed protein production. Backyard production of chicken meat, eggs, and rabbit meat reduces environmental costs of protein due to savings in production, transportation, and refrigeration of meat products and even more so with soybeans. Generally, distributed production of protein was found to be economically competitive with centralized production of meat if distributed labor costs were ignored.

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Conceptual Design and Rationale for a New Agrivoltaics Concept: Pasture-Raised Rabbits and Solar Farming

Cited by 47 publications

References 42 publications

Photovoltaic Farms—Economic Efficiency of Investments in North-East Poland

Photovoltaic Farms—Economic Efficiency of Investments in North-East Poland

U.S. Potential of Sustainable Backyard Distributed Animal and Plant Protein Production during and after Pandemics

U.S. Potential of Sustainable Backyard Distributed Animal and Plant Protein Production During & After Pandemics

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