Application of photovoltaic system to modify energy use, environmental damages and cumulative exergy demand of two irrigation systems-A case study: Barley production of Iran

Irrigation is one of energy-intensive operations in agriculture, which consumes great part of energy inputs and has harmful environmental effects. Thus, the goal of this study is to simulate application of photovoltaic (PV) system as an alternative clean energy supplier to achieve energy-environmental sustainability under two irrigation methods, namely, surface irrigation (SFI) and sprinkler irrigation (SPI) in barley cultivation. Data are collected during the growing season of 2018–2019 from a 100-ha farm located in central region of Hamedan province, Iran. Moreover, applying PV system to SFI and SPI scenarios, which are simulated by using TRNSYS software, generate SFI-PV and SPI-PV scenarios, respectively. After that, environmental damages for all scenarios are evaluated by ReCiPe2016 method of life cycle assessment. Results indicate energy use efficiencies are 2.85 and 2.80 in SFI and SPI, respectively. On-Farm emissions in all scenarios, electricity in SFI and SPI and PV panels SFI-PV and SPI-PV are the hotspots of environmental damages. Cumulative exergy demand (CExD) findings show that shares of Non-renewable, fossil for barley production mainly result from electricity and diesel fuel. It is concluded that energy and environmental damage indices can be enhanced remarkably via using renewable energy technologies.