Electrical Energy Efficiency On United States Farms
Electrical energy efficiency on United States farms covers the use of electricity on farms and the methods and incentives for improving the efficiency of that use. U.S. farms have almost doubled their average energy efficiency over the past 25 years. Usage Energy costs represent between 2% (at cattle feed lots) and 9% (for grain farming, due partly to grain drying) of farm production costs. Use on dairy farms In 2006 there were about 65,000 dairy farms in the United States, although most had fewer than 200 cows. One "resource auditor" believes it is possible for dairy farms to reach an energy usage of as low as 200 kWhr per cow per year although an analysis of California dairy farms found that 300 kWhr/year was the lowest actually attained. One study found the following electrical usages on New York dairy farms: *Milk cooling – 23% *Ventilation – 21% *Vacuum pumps – 18% *Lighting – 17% *Electrical water heating – 10% *Feeding equipment – 7% Another study found high ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwell's equations. Various common phenomena are related to electricity, including lightning, static electricity, electric heating, electric discharges and many others. The presence of an electric charge, which can be either positive or negative, produces an electric field. The movement of electric charges is an electric current and produces a magnetic field. When a charge is placed in a location with a non-zero electric field, a force will act on it. The magnitude of this force is given by Coulomb's law. If the charge moves, the electric field would be doing work on the electric charge. Thus we can speak of electric potential at a certain point in space, which is equal to the work done by an external agent in carrying a unit of p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cogeneration
Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from electricity generation is put to some productive use. Combined heat and power (CHP) plants recover otherwise wasted thermal energy for heating. This is also called combined heat and power district heating. Small CHP plants are an example of decentralized energy. By-product heat at moderate temperatures (100–180 °C, 212–356 °F) can also be used in absorption refrigerators for cooling. The supply of high-temperature heat first drives a gas or steam turbine-powered generator. The resulting low-temperature waste heat is then used for water or space heating. At smaller scales (typically below 1 MW), a gas engine or diesel engine may be used. Cogeneration is also common with geothermal power plants as they often produce relatively lo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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American Journal Of Agricultural Economics
The ''American Journal of Agricultural Economics'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of agricultural, natural resource, and environmental economics, as well as rural and community development. Published five times per year, it is one of two journals published by the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association, along with ''Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy''. It was established in 1919, at which point it was called the ''Journal of Farm Economics''. Editors The current editors are Amy Ando (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), Marc Bellemare (University of Minnesota), Jill McCluskey (Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...), and Jesse Tack ( Kansas State University). References External links * Journal page on Assoc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Agricultural & Applied Economics Association
The Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) is a not-for-profit professional association for those interested in the field of agricultural and applied economics. The AAEA association has an annual meeting every year. It publishes two journals, the ''American Journal of Agricultural Economics'' (''AJAE''), and the ''Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy ''Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy'' (''AEPP'') is a peer-reviewed journal of applied economics and policy. Published four times per year, it is the one of two journals published by the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA), ...'' (''AEPP'') both of which are published by Wiley. References External linksAAEA Home Page [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Post-harvest Losses (Grains)
Grains may be lost in the pre-harvest, harvest, and post-harvest stages. Pre-harvest losses occur before the process of harvesting begins, and may be due to insects, weeds, and rusts. Harvest losses occur between the beginning and completion of harvesting, and are primarily caused by losses due to shattering. Post-harvest losses occur between harvest and the moment of human consumption. They include on-farm losses, such as when grain is threshed, winnowed, and dried. Other on-farm losses include inadequate harvesting time, climatic conditions, practices applied at harvest and handling, and challenges in marketing produce. Significant losses are caused by inadequate storage conditions as well as decisions made at earlier stages of the supply chain, including transportation, storage, and processing, which predispose products to a shorter shelf life. Important in many developing countries, particularly in Africa, are on-farm losses during storage, when the grain is being stored fo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Post-harvest Losses (Fruit And Vegetables)
Post-harvest losses of vegetables and fruit occur at all points in the value chain from production in the field to the food being placed on a plate for consumption. Post-harvest activities include harvesting, handling, storage, processing, packaging, transportation and marketing. Losses of horticultural produce are a major problem in the post-harvest chain. They can be caused by a wide variety of factors, ranging from growing conditions to handling at retail level. Not only are losses clearly a waste of food, but they also represent a similar waste of human effort, farm inputs, livelihoods, investments, and scarce resources such as water. Post-harvest losses for horticultural produce are, however, difficult to measure. In some cases everything harvested by a farmer may end up being sold to consumers. In others, losses or waste may be considerable. Occasionally, losses may be 100%, for example when there is a price collapse and it would cost the farmer more to harvest and market th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Timeline Of Agriculture And Food Technology
Paleolithic * 30,600 BC – Pestle used as a tool in southern Italy to grind oats. Neolithic Revolution * 8,500 BC – Neolithic Revolution, the first agricultural revolution, begins in the ancient Near East * 8,000 BC – domesticated wheat at PPNA sites in the Levant * 7500 BC – PPNB sites across the Fertile Crescent growing wheat, barley, chickpeas, peas, beans, flax and bitter vetch. Sheep and goat domesticated. * 7000 BC – agriculture had reached southern Europe with evidence of emmer and einkorn wheat, barley, sheep, goats, and pigs suggest that a food producing economy is adopted in Greece and the Aegean. * 7000 BC – Cultivation of wheat, sesame, barley, and eggplant in Mehrgarh (modern day Pakistan). * 7000 BC – Domestication of cattle and chicken in Mehrgarh, modern day Pakistan. * 6800 BC – Rice domesticated in southeast Asia. * 6500 BC – Evidence of cattle domestication in Turkey. Some sources say this happened earlier in other parts of the world. * 6001 BC â ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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National Institute Of Food And Agriculture
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is a U.S. federal government body whose creation was mandated in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. Its purpose is to consolidate all federally funded agricultural research, and it is subordinate to the Department of Agriculture. It replaced the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service in 2009. , Dionne Toombs has served as the Acting Director. The mission of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is to stimulate and fund the research and technological innovations that will enhance American agriculture and make it more productive and environmentally sustainable while ensuring the economic viability of agriculture and production. The Institute was developed as a result of a task force chaired by William Henry Danforth and appointed by then-Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman. The Danforth Task Force recommended that Cong ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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List Of Sustainable Agriculture Topics
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to sustainable agriculture: Sustainable agriculture – applied science that integrates three main goals, environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equity. These goals have been defined by various philosophies, policies, and practices, from the vision of farmers and consumers. Perspectives and approaches are very diverse. The following topics intend to help understand sustainable agriculture. Introduction * Agroecology * Alan Chadwick * Biodynamic agriculture * Ecoagriculture * French intensive gardening * Horticulture * John D. Hamaker * Lady Eve Balfour * Organic farming * Polyculture * Resilience (ecology) * Rudolf Steiner * Sustainability Branches of sustainable agriculture * Fisheries management – protecting fishery resources in an effort to maintain sustainable fisheries * Sustainable farming * Sustainable forest management * Sustainable gardening Sustainable ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Good Agricultural Practice
Good agricultural practice (GAP) is a certification system for agriculture, specifying procedures (and attendant documentation) that must be implemented to create food for consumers or further processing that is safe and wholesome, using sustainable methods. While there are numerous competing definitions of what methods constitute good agricultural practice, there are several broadly accepted schemes that producers can adhere too. Motivation Introduction of GAP is particularly desirable when there is chronic overuse and misuse of agricultural pesticides. Governments seek to reduce the use of pesticides by promoting alternative methods of pest management, while at the same time ensuring a steady production of safe and wholesome food. Organizations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations GAP The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) uses good agricultural practice as a collection of principles applying to on-farm production and po ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Feed-in Tariff
A feed-in tariff (FIT, FiT, standard offer contract,Couture, T., Cory, K., Kreycik, C., Williams, E., (2010)Policymaker's Guide to Feed-in Tariff Policy Design National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy advanced renewable tariff, or renewable energy payments) is a policy mechanism designed to accelerate investment in renewable energy technologies by offering long-term contracts to renewable energy producers. This means promising renewable energy producers an above-market price and providing price certainty and long-term contracts that help finance renewable energy investments. Typically, FITs award different prices to different sources of renewable energy in order to encourage development of one technology over another. For example, technologies such as wind power and solar PV are awarded a higher price per kWh than tidal power. FITs often include a "degression": a gradual decrease of the price or tariff in order to follow and encourage technological cost reductions ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Energy Efficiency In Agriculture
European Commission definitions Energy in general European Commission definitions of energy efficiency, are given below: * Energy efficiency: a ratio between an output of performance, service, goods or energy, and an input of energy; * Energy efficiency improvement: an increase in energy end-use efficiency as a result of technological, behavioral and/or economic changes; * Energy savings : an amount of saved energy determined by measuring and/or estimating consumption before and after implementation of one or more energy efficiency improvement measures, whilst ensuring normalization for external conditions that affect energy consumption; According to article 2(d) of the Regulation (EC) No1099/2008 on energy statistics: * Energy means all forms of energy products (combustible fuels, heat, renewable energy, electricity, or any other form of energy) * Primary energy consumption means gross inland consumption, excluding non-energy uses * Final energy consumption means all energy ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |