Browsing by Author "Nnadi, F. N"
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Item Open Access Renewable Energy for Sustainable Food, feed and fibre production: A panacea to Nigeria’s energy crisis(2011) Nnadi, F. N; Chikaire, J.; Ajaero, J. O.; Nwakwasi, R. N.; Oguegbuchulam, M. N.Agriculture is the sole provider of human food. Most farm machines are driven by fossil fuels, which contribute to green house gas emission and, in turn, accelerate climate change. Such environmental damage can be mitigated by the promotion of renewable resources such as solar, wind, biomass, tidal, geo-thermal small-scale hydro, biofuels and wave-generated power. This is because, energy inputs are critical to agricultural production and long-term sustainability of global agricultural production will require renewable alternative energy resources. There are many systems that can provide on-farm energy resources from renewable sources. Solar energy, wind and small scale hydro systems can provide on-farm as well off-farm energy resources. These renewable resources have a huge potential for the agriculture industry. The concepts of sustainable food, fibre and feed production lies on a dedicate balance of maximizing productivity and maintaining economic stability, while minimizing the utilization of finite natural resources and detrimental environmental impacts. It also emphasize replenishing the soil for future use. Hence, there is a need for promoting use of renewable energy systems for sustainable food production, for instance, solar photovoltaic water pumps and electricity, greenhouse technologies, solar dryers for post-harvest processing, and solar hot water heaters and so on. This article thus explains in detail the role of renewable energy in farming for production of safe and secure food for humans