Hybrid Renewable Energy Sources (Solar and Wind) Potential and Its Application for Sustainable Agriculture in Pakistan: A Case Study of Potohar Plateau

Abstract

The agriculture sector in Pakistan has a significant amount of potential in terms of solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass energy production and consumption. Most of the farm machinery on agriculture farms runs on high-cost fossil fuels and is also our source of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Utilizing renewable energy (RE) technology in the agriculture sector will reduce the cost of agricultural farming and will lower GHG emissions. The objective of this study is to determine and compare the solar and wind energy potential for the different districts in the Potohar region of Pakistan. The solar and wind energy data are obtained from HOMER Pro, RETScreen, and the weather station of the National Center of Industrial Biotechnology (NCIB), PMAS-Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi. The results obtained are analyzed and compared which depicts that the Potohar region of Punjab, Pakistan has a significant amount of solar potential for its application in agriculture. This article gives an overview of renewable solar and wind energy potential and its applications for farmers and ranchers to make RE a rising source of energy and rural income in Pakistan.

Keywords

• renewable energy
• sustainable agriculture
• climate change
• agriculture farm
• solar energy
• wind energy