Drawing transformation pathways for making use of joint effects of food and energy production with biodiversity agriphotovoltaics and electrified agricultural machinery.

ABSTRACT

The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals is being pursued worldwide. While energy production and consumption are to be oriented towards renewable energies, ecologically and socially sustainable agriculture is also a target for science and society. Due to the expansion of renewable energies, agricultural land in particular is the focus of various interest groups, from food production to energy production. In this interdisciplinary study, we show the opportunities and limits of joint synergies from the nexus of food production, energy production, energy consumption, biodiversity protection and social acceptance of renewable energies in a scenario. Biodiversity agriphotovoltaics, i.e. agriphotovoltaics in combination with biodiversity protection measures, such as flower strips, can make a valuable contribution to promoting biotope connectivity in addition to significant energy production. We show this in a GIS-based regional assessment for Lower Saxony in northern Germany. This rough spatial assessment is followed by a modelling of energy production and consumption during the cultivation of a characteristic agricultural field in the loess region of Lower Saxony. Our focus here is on the possibilities of using cable electricity or battery storage for carrying out the cultivation. In an accompanying survey of farmers regarding the use of agriphotovoltaics, we collected and evaluated their prior knowledge, experiences, and attitudes towards this technology. Finally, we show which advantages agriphotovoltaics and electrified agricultural machinery can also have for the sustainable transformation of agriculture and which challenges exist for a truly sustainable use of these technologies.