Renewable Energies in the Agricultural Sector: A Perspective Analysis of the Last Three Years

Abstract

Renewable energy arises as a tool for the supply of energy to the agriculture sector. Currently, there is a growing concern for the environment. This circumstance has led to technological progress in energy use in relation to natural resources and their availability for all productive sectors, including agriculture. The main objective of this work is to perform analysis from a bibliometric point of view and to analyze scientific advances in renewable energy and agriculture worldwide that have occurred in the last three years (2019–2021). The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the last three years on the topic in order to contribute to the international scientific community, specifically towards collaboration between authors, institutions, and countries. A keyword analysis using community detection was applied to detect the five main clusters of this research and was largely dedicated to the following topics: renewable energy technologies in agriculture, bioenergy, sustainable agriculture, biomass energy, and the environmental impact of agriculture. The main countries found to be conducting research on renewable energy and agriculture include India, China, the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland, Indonesia, Germany, the Russian Federation, and Spain; the most important institutions conducting research in this area include the Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China, the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers at the National Research University in Uzbekistan, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and the Grupo de Investigação em Engenharia e Computação Inteligente para a Inovação e o Desenvolvimento in Portugal. These results may contribute to the identification of new research needs and therefore to the development of future directions of research on renewable energies in the agricultural sector.

Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Production: A Bibliometric Analysis of the Last Five Years

“…The quantification of scientific activity is performed through indicators such as the publications of an institution belonging to a particular country or area, in addition to the authors or year of publication [23,31]. The value of this information lies in making comparisons between institutions and providing a frame of reference to achieve the objective of the proposed research.…”

“…According to [23,31], the impact the publications have is not calculated immediately through citations since this is a measure that can only be calculated over the years. In this sense, the impact factor of the top 10 reviews in renewable energy and energy production research was used (Table 1).…”

“…The variety of research areas demonstra current interest in implementing renewable energies in various areas and ind worldwide. According to [23,31], the impact the publications have is not calculated imme through citations since this is a measure that can only be calculated over the years sense, the impact factor of the top 10 reviews in renewable energy and energy prod research was used (Table 1). The leading journal with the highest number of publications on renewable and energy production is the Energies journal (159 papers) with an H-Index of 13 JCR impact factor of 3.52.…”

Effect of Soil Properties and Powertrain Configuration on the Energy Consumption of Wheeled Electric Agricultural Robots

“…The electrification of agricultural machines and the utilization of renewable energy sources are known to be essential steps towards the widespread implementation of smart farming [2]. Consequently, studies focusing on using renewable energy in agriculture have greatly increased in recent years [8]. However, the high energy demand of agricultural operations makes the electrification of the machinery challenging [9].…”

Evaluation of the Significance of Agriculture in Renewable Energy Production in the Member States of the EU

“…Agriculture and the food economy are also objects of climate and energy policies. This stems from the links between the agricultural sector, renewable energy, and sustainable agriculture [6,7]. On the one hand, agriculture is a significant energy consumer, while on the other hand, the relationship between energy and sustainable agriculture goes far beyond the use of renewable sources [8].…”