Optimized scheduling strategies for integrated energy systems in agricultural parks with near-zero carbon emissions

In accelerating the low-carbon transition of agricultural parks, there remains a lack of systematic solutions integrating agricultural production, energy utilization, and carbon emissions. This study proposes an optimized scheduling strategy for agricultural parks' integrated energy systems (IES) to achieve near-zero carbon emissions. First, it clarifies the coupling mechanism among agriculture, energy, and carbon, establishing the relationship between energy flow and carbon flow. Second, a carbon footprint assessment model is developed to quantitatively analyze the dynamic balance between carbon emissions, reduction, and absorption. Finally, a two-stage optimization model is established, the first stage optimizes equipment capacity to enhance economic efficiency and cleanliness, while the second stage incorporates carbon trading and crop thermal physiology to regulate flexible thermal loads, achieving coordination among energy, carbon, and agricultural demands. A near-zero carbon assessment system covering “source–grid–load–storage” dimensions provides quantitative tools for agricultural parks' low-carbon transformation. Results show that, compared with the traditional model, the optimized strategy improves system economics by 12.8 % during the heating season and 77.6 % during the non-heating season, while increasing photovoltaic utilization by 605.83 kWh and 1420.58 kWh, respectively. Carbon footprint analysis indicates net CO2 emissions of 626.87 kg and 63.94 kg, with sustainability indices of 0.88 and 0.91 for the two seasons. Overall, the proposed model offers an effective pathway to achieve near-zero carbon emissions, enhance economic efficiency, and promote renewable energy.