IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/joafsc/359585.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Small Organic Farm Renewable Energy Demonstration Project Based on Incremental Capital Investment and Community Participation

Author

Listed:
  • Demeo, Anna E.
  • Peterson, Michael L.

Abstract

Rising fuel prices, energy security, and climate-change awareness are all incentives for farmers to implement efficiency measures and renewable energy systems, such that all or part of a farm's energy needs are produced locally. This practice, known as clean energy farming, complements principles of sustainable agriculture such as promoting environmental stewardship, reducing dependence on nonrenewable resources, increasing economic viability, and strengthening farm families and society as a whole.Farmers who entertain moving toward a more sustainable energy portfolio are often unsure where to begin and how to approach such an endeavor. This uncertainty, combined with the perceived enormity of the task, create an insurmountable roadblock for many. Overcoming these barriers and engaging in small-scale renewable energy projects can benefit the farmer and the larger community. Exposure to such projects is an invaluable means of fostering support for renewable energy as it helps the public better appreciate the human ecological connection between daily energy consumption, the source of that energy, and the overall effect on the environment.The central objective of this paper is to demonstrate a model for sustainable energy for a working farm based on community participation and incremental capital investment. A small organic farm was used as the model to show how to migrate toward energy independence through efficiency and conservation measures, and the incorporation of technologies based on renewable resources. It is a portfolio approach, which allows for multiple technologies such as wind, solar, biomass, and efficiency measures to be implemented over time as funds become available.

Suggested Citation

  • Demeo, Anna E. & Peterson, Michael L., 2013. "Small Organic Farm Renewable Energy Demonstration Project Based on Incremental Capital Investment and Community Participation," Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, Center for Transformative Action, Cornell University, vol. 4(1).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:joafsc:359585
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/359585/files/227.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. D'Souza, Gerard & Ikerd, John, 1996. "Small Farms and Sustainable Development: Is Small More Sustainable?," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(1), pages 73-83, July.
    2. D'Souza, Gerard E. & Ikerd, John E., 1996. "Small Farms And Sustainable Development: Is Small More Sustainable?," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 28(01), pages 1-11, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Susana G. Azevedo & Minelle E. Silva & João C. O. Matias & Gustavo P. Dias, 2018. "The Influence of Collaboration Initiatives on the Sustainability of the Cashew Supply Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-29, June.
    2. Leah Grout & Simon Hales & Nigel French & Michael G. Baker, 2018. "A Review of Methods for Assessing the Environmental Health Impacts of an Agricultural System," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-27, June.
    3. Sklenicka, Petr & Zouhar, Jan & Molnarova, Kristina Janeckova & Vlasak, Josef & Kottova, Blanka & Petrzelka, Peggy & Gebhart, Michal & Walmsley, Alena, 2020. "Trends of soil degradation: Does the socio-economic status of land owners and land users matter?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    4. Michael Chappell & Liliana LaValle, 2011. "Food security and biodiversity: can we have both? An agroecological analysis," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 28(1), pages 3-26, February.
    5. Aleksander Grzelak & Jakub Staniszewski & Michał Borychowski, 2020. "Income or Assets—What Determines the Approach to the Environment among Farmers in A Region in Poland?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-20, June.
    6. Robbins, M.J., 2013. "Locating food sovereignty: geographical and sectoral distance in the global food system," ISS Working Papers - General Series 557, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    7. Mayton, Holly & Beal, Ty & Rubin, Julia & Sanchez, Alejandra & Heller, Martin & Hoey, Lesli & de Haan, Stef & Duong, Thanh Thi & Huynh, Tuyen & Burra, Dharani Dhar & Khoury, Colin K. & Jones, Andrew D, 2020. "Conceptualizing sustainable diets in Vietnam: Minimum metrics and potential leverage points," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    8. Moon, Wanki, . "Multifunctional Agriculture, Protectionism, And Prospect Of Trade Liberalization," Journal of Rural Development/Nongchon-Gyeongje, Korea Rural Economic Institute, vol. 33(2), pages 1-33.
    9. Dragan Miljkovic, 2005. "Measuring and causes of inequality in farm sizes in the United States," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 33(1), pages 21-27, July.
    10. Moira Zellner & Dean Massey & Anton Rozhkov & John T. Murphy, 2023. "Exploring the Barriers to and Potential for Sustainable Transitions in Urban–Rural Systems through Participatory Causal Loop Diagramming of the Food–Energy–Water Nexus," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-27, February.
    11. Puech, Camille & Brulaire, Arnaud & Paraiso, Jérôme & Faloya, Vincent, 2021. "Collective design of innovative agroecological cropping systems for the industrial vegetable sector," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    12. Rick Welsh & Rebecca Rivers, 2011. "Environmental management strategies in agriculture," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 28(3), pages 297-302, September.
    13. Grzelak Aleksander & Borychowski Michał & Staniszewski Jakub, 2020. "Pro-environmental actions of agricultural farms - example of holdings from the Wielkopolska region," Management, Sciendo, vol. 24(2), pages 236-250, December.
    14. Jenő Zsolt Farkas & Irén Rita Kőszegi & Edit Hoyk & Ádám Szalai, 2023. "Challenges and Future Visions of the Hungarian Livestock Sector from a Rural Development Viewpoint," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-20, June.
    15. Kazakova-Mateva, Yanka & Radeva-Decheva, Donka, "undated". "The role of agroecosystems diversity towards sustainability of agricultural systems," 147th Seminar, October 7-8, 2015, Sofia, Bulgaria 212250, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    16. Sarah Velten & Julia Leventon & Nicolas Jager & Jens Newig, 2015. "What Is Sustainable Agriculture? A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-33, June.
    17. Barbara Wieliczko & Agnieszka Kurdyś-Kujawska & Agnieszka Sompolska-Rzechuła, 2020. "Savings of Small Farms: Their Magnitude, Determinants and Role in Sustainable Development. Example of Poland," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-18, November.
    18. Tomasz Pajewski & Barbara Gołębiewska & Agnieszka Sobolewska, 2019. "The Area of Farms and their Influence on Generating Negative Externalities," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 3-14.
    19. Silvia Ștefania Maican & Andreea Cipriana Muntean & Carmen Adina Paștiu & Sebastian Stępień & Jan Polcyn & Iulian Bogdan Dobra & Mălina Dârja & Claudia Olimpia Moisă, 2021. "Motivational Factors, Job Satisfaction, and Economic Performance in Romanian Small Farms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-23, May.
    20. Andrzej Hornowski & Andrzej Parzonko & Pavel Kotyza & Tomasz Kondraszuk & Piotr Bórawski & Luboš Smutka, 2020. "Factors Determining the Development of Small Farms in Central and Eastern Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-21, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ags:joafsc:359585. 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: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.