IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v9y2017i8p1303-d106001.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Clean Technologies in Agriculture—How to Prioritise Measures?

Author

Listed:
  • Deborah Scharfy

    (Institute of Natural Resource Sciences, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, 8820 Wädenswil, Switzerland)

  • Norman Boccali

    (Former Student at Institute of Natural Resource Sciences, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, 8820 Wädenswil, Switzerland)

  • Matthias Stucki

    (Institute of Natural Resource Sciences, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, 8820 Wädenswil, Switzerland)

Abstract

As agriculture continues to be under pressure due to its negative environmental impacts, resource-efficiency and the use of clean technologies gain importance. Meanwhile, there is an abundance of technological solutions that help “clean” agriculture’s hotspots, either by reducing inputs, by producing renewable energy or by protecting ecosystems. Decisions about clean technologies remain difficult due to the variety of options, difficulties in cost-benefit calculations, and potential trade-offs in sustainability. We therefore addressed the issue of decision-making regarding clean technologies in agriculture. A multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) was used to rank the most sustainable technologies. Evaluation of 17 selected clean technologies was based on literature information and expert opinion. Wireless sensor irrigation networks, frequency converters for vacuum pumps and stable air conditioning, PV electricity and drip irrigation were the five technologies with the highest sustainability scores, outperforming the 12 other clean technologies. When all sustainability dimensions and criteria were equally weighted, PV electricity was superseded by variable speed drive technology for irrigation in the top five. This paper shows that MCDAs are a useful method for choosing between sustainable clean technology options. By applying different weighting, the MCDA can reflect the priorities of the decision maker and provide customised results.

Suggested Citation

  • Deborah Scharfy & Norman Boccali & Matthias Stucki, 2017. "Clean Technologies in Agriculture—How to Prioritise Measures?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-22, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:8:p:1303-:d:106001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/8/1303/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/8/1303/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dechezleprêtre, Antoine & Glachant, Matthieu & Ménière, Yann, 2008. "The Clean Development Mechanism and the international diffusion of technologies: An empirical study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 1273-1283, April.
    2. Schneider, Uwe A. & Kumar, Pushpam, 2008. "Greenhouse Gas Mitigation through Agriculture," Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 23(1), pages 1-5.
    3. Uwe A. Schneider & Pete Smith, 2008. "Greenhouse Gas Emission Mitigation and Emission Intensities in Agriculture," Working Papers FNU-164, Research unit Sustainability and Global Change, Hamburg University, revised Jul 2008.
    4. Pushpam Kumar & Uwe A. Schneider, 2008. "Greenhouse gas emission mitigation through agriculture," Working Papers FNU-155, Research unit Sustainability and Global Change, Hamburg University, revised Feb 2008.
    5. Sarah Wettstein & Karen Muir & Deborah Scharfy & Matthias Stucki, 2017. "The Environmental Mitigation Potential of Photovoltaic-Powered Irrigation in the Production of South African Maize," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-20, September.
    6. Duffield, James A. & Collins, Keith J., 2006. "Evolution of Renewable Energy Policy," Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 21(1), pages 1-6.
    7. Wang, Jiang-Jiang & Jing, You-Yin & Zhang, Chun-Fa & Zhao, Jun-Hong, 2009. "Review on multi-criteria decision analysis aid in sustainable energy decision-making," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(9), pages 2263-2278, December.
    8. Andersen, Erling & Verhoog, A. David & Elbersen, Berien S. & Godeschalk, Frans E. & Koole, Boudewijn, 2006. "A multidimensional farming system typology," Reports 9291, Wageningen University, SEAMLESS: System for Environmental and Agricultural Modelling; Linking European Science and Society.
    9. Timothy A. Wise, 2013. "Can We Feed the World in 2050? A Scoping Paper to Assess the Evidence," GDAE Working Papers 13-04, GDAE, Tufts University.
    10. Emmann, Carsten H. & Arens, Ludwig & Theuvsen, Ludwig, 2013. "Individual acceptance of the biogas innovation: A structural equation model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 372-378.
    11. Sjak Smulders & Lucas Bretschger & Hannes Egli, 2005. "Economic growth and the diffusion of clean technologies : explaining environmental Kuznets," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 05/42, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    12. Brudermann, Thomas & Reinsberger, Kathrin & Orthofer, Anita & Kislinger, Martin & Posch, Alfred, 2013. "Photovoltaics in agriculture: A case study on decision making of farmers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 96-103.
    13. Hoppe, Robert A. & MacDonald, James M., 2013. "Updating the ERS Farm Typology," Economic Information Bulletin 147120, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    14. Kamel, Sami & Dahl, Carol, 2005. "The economics of hybrid power systems for sustainable desert agriculture in Egypt," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 30(8), pages 1271-1281.
    15. Sjak Smulders & Lucas Bretschger & Hannes Egli, 2011. "Economic Growth and the Diffusion of Clean Technologies: Explaining Environmental Kuznets Curves," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 49(1), pages 79-99, May.
    16. Adam J. Liska & Haishun S. Yang & Virgil R. Bremer & Terry J. Klopfenstein & Daniel T. Walters & Galen E. Erickson & Kenneth G. Cassman, 2009. "Improvements in Life Cycle Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Corn‐Ethanol," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 13(1), pages 58-74, February.
    17. Larson, Donald F. & Dinar, Ariel & Frisbie, J. Aapris, 2011. "Agriculture and the clean development mechanism," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5621, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sarah Wettstein & Karen Muir & Deborah Scharfy & Matthias Stucki, 2017. "The Environmental Mitigation Potential of Photovoltaic-Powered Irrigation in the Production of South African Maize," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-20, September.
    2. Carlos Bautista-Capetillo & Hugo Márquez-Villagrana & Anuard Pacheco-Guerrero & Julián González-Trinidad & Hugo Júnez-Ferreira & Manuel Zavala-Trejo, 2018. "Cropping System Diversification: Water Consumption against Crop Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-11, June.
    3. Hanna Kröhnert & Matthias Stucki, 2021. "Life Cycle Assessment of a Plant-Based, Regionally Marketed Shampoo and Analysis of Refill Options," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-21, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Wen, 2015. "Intégrer l'agriculture dans les politiques d'atténuation chinoises," Economics Thesis from University Paris Dauphine, Paris Dauphine University, number 123456789/14999 edited by Perthuis, Christian de.
    2. Hari Wahyu Wijayanto & Kai-An Lo & Hery Toiba & Moh Shadiqur Rahman, 2022. "Does Agroforestry Adoption Affect Subjective Well-Being? Empirical Evidence from Smallholder Farmers in East Java, Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-10, August.
    3. Zhen, Wei & Qin, Quande & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2017. "Spatio-temporal patterns of energy consumption-related GHG emissions in China's crop production systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 274-284.
    4. Huarui Gong & Jing Li & Zhen Liu & Yitao Zhang & Ruixing Hou & Zhu Ouyang, 2022. "Mitigated Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Cropping Systems by Organic Fertilizer and Tillage Management," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-18, July.
    5. Oliver Lazarus & Sonali McDermid & Jennifer Jacquet, 2021. "The climate responsibilities of industrial meat and dairy producers," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 1-21, March.
    6. David Bryngelsson & Fredrik Hedenus & Daniel J. A. Johansson & Christian Azar & Stefan Wirsenius, 2017. "How Do Dietary Choices Influence the Energy-System Cost of Stabilizing the Climate?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-13, February.
    7. Soy-Massoni, Emma & Langemeyer, Johannes & Varga, Diego & Sáez, Marc & Pintó, Josep, 2016. "The importance of ecosystem services in coastal agricultural landscapes: Case study from the Costa Brava, Catalonia," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 43-52.
    8. Telmo José Mendes & Diego Silva Siqueira & Eduardo Barretto Figueiredo & Ricardo de Oliveira Bordonal & Mara Regina Moitinho & José Marques Júnior & Newton La Scala Jr., 2021. "Soil carbon stock estimations: methods and a case study of the Maranhão State, Brazil," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(11), pages 16410-16427, November.
    9. Ancuta Isbasoiu & Pierre-Alain Jayet & Stéphane De Cara, 2021. "Increasing food production and mitigating agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union: impacts of carbon pricing and calorie production targeting," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 23(2), pages 409-440, April.
    10. Amanda Silva‐Parra & Juan Manuel Trujillo‐González & Eric C. Brevik, 2021. "Greenhouse gas balance and mitigation potential of agricultural systems in Colombia: A systematic analysis," Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 11(3), pages 554-572, June.
    11. Chen, Jiandong & Cheng, Shulei & Song, Malin, 2018. "Changes in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions of the agricultural sector in China from 2005 to 2013," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 748-761.
    12. Wang, Guangshuai & Liang, Yueping & Zhang, Qian & Jha, Shiva K. & Gao, Yang & Shen, Xiaojun & Sun, Jingsheng & Duan, Aiwang, 2016. "Mitigated CH4 and N2O emissions and improved irrigation water use efficiency in winter wheat field with surface drip irrigation in the North China Plain," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 403-407.
    13. Saw Min & Martin Rulík, 2020. "Comparison of Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ) Fluxes between Conventional and Conserved Irrigated Rice Paddy Fields in Myanmar," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-19, July.
    14. Connor, Melanie & de Guia, Annalyn H. & Quilloy, Reianne & Van Nguyen, Hung & Gummert, Martin & Sander, Bjoern Ole, 2020. "When climate change is not psychologically distant – Factors influencing the acceptance of sustainable farming practices in the Mekong river Delta of Vietnam," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    15. Franco-Luesma, Samuel & Álvaro-Fuentes, Jorge & Plaza-Bonilla, Daniel & Arrúe, José Luis & Cantero-Martínez, Carlos & Cavero, José, 2019. "Influence of irrigation time and frequency on greenhouse gas emissions in a solid-set sprinkler-irrigated maize under Mediterranean conditions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 303-311.
    16. Anna Kocira & Mariola Staniak & Marzena Tomaszewska & Rafał Kornas & Jacek Cymerman & Katarzyna Panasiewicz & Halina Lipińska, 2020. "Legume Cover Crops as One of the Elements of Strategic Weed Management and Soil Quality Improvement. A Review," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-41, September.
    17. Kerstin Jantke & Martina J. Hartmann & Livia Rasche & Benjamin Blanz & Uwe A. Schneider, 2020. "Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Knowledge and Positions of German Farmers," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-13, April.
    18. Song, Guobao & Song, Jie & Zhang, Shushen, 2016. "Modelling the policies of optimal straw use for maximum mitigation of climate change in China from a system perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 789-810.
    19. Kathrin Hasler & Hans-Werner Olfs & Onno Omta & Stefanie Bröring, 2016. "Drivers for the Adoption of Eco-Innovations in the German Fertilizer Supply Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(8), pages 1-18, July.
    20. Miomir Jovanović & Ljiljana Kašćelan & Aleksandra Despotović & Vladimir Kašćelan, 2015. "The Impact of Agro-Economic Factors on GHG Emissions: Evidence from European Developing and Advanced Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-21, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:8:p:1303-:d:106001. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.