MOOC: Powering Agriculture – Sustainable Energy for Food

Course at a Glance

The global initiative “Powering Agriculture: An Energy Grand Challenge for Development (PAEGC)” in cooperation with TH Köln – University of Applied Science offered a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on “Powering Agriculture – Sustainable Energy for Food”. Further contributing organizations were the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Tetra Tech, the World Bank, as well as the Center for Development Research (ZEF).

The 8-week course ran from Feb 1 to Mar 27, 2016. It introduced the participants to the Energy-Agriculture Nexus and approaches for sustainably providing energy throughout all stages of agricultural value chains. Challenges but also solutions were analyzed, concrete technologies were examined focusing on their utility to promote access to clean energy. 

Find the MOOC platform with all course material here.

Background

Around one third of the energy used worldwide goes into the production and processing of food from field to table. Given the current energy system mix, the agrifood industry sector is however heavily dependent on fossil fuel inputs for production, transport, processing and distribution, and contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. With a continuously growing world population the need for food and for energy to produce is increasing. At the same time millions of farmers and processors in developing countries and emerging economies lack access to clean energy technologies for irrigation, drying, cooling, storage and other processes. 

How can these needs be met sustainably? We have to produce more food with less energy, make energy use more efficient, and introduce and upscale more clean energy technologies.

About the Course

The MOOC is a web-based intensive course with flexible participation, online-video as well as offline reading material, and an online forum. It was offered on the Global Campus 21 platform of GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH), with all learning materials and documents available for offline work. The aim was to build a vibrant learning community focused on co-creating solutions.

In this course, we gave an introduction to the Agriculture and Energy Nexus (video lecture) and introduced approaches for sustainably providing energy throughout all stages of agricultural value chains – focusing on a developing and emerging country context.

Central concerns were: How can we support the use of clean energy in developing countries and emerging economies within the agriculture and food sector? How can we contribute to reducing the large quantities of agricultural products going to waste every day, and thereby contributing to food security, both globally and locally?’

The participants looked at different clean energy technologies such as biogas- and solar powered- technologies and examined how those can promote access to clean energy. Together, participants explored potential applications of these technologies in agricultural value chains by jointly analysing case studies from all over the globe.

Participants learned that – while there is general consent on the importance of ‘clean energy’ and food security – approaches to tackle existing challenges vary enormously. Economic and political factors play a big role within the Agriculture and Energy Nexus, and may either push or restrain progress towards a more sustainable energy use.

Course Material

Week 1:
Introduction

Week 1: Introduction to the Energy-Agriculture Nexus

• Introduction to the Energy-Agriculture Nexus
  
• Energy Input in Agricultural Value Chains
  

Find the videos of week 1 via the following links: 

• Introduction to the Energy Food Nexus by the Partners of "Powering Agriculture - An Energy Grand Challenge for Development"
• Introduction to the MOOC by Prof. Ramchandra Bhandari, TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences
• Expert Interview with Katie Kennedy Freeman, Global Food and Agriculture Global Practice (GFADR), World Bank

Further material:

• Reader
  
• Additional material

Week 2-4:
Renewable Energy Technologies and Energy Efficiency in Agricultural Value Chains

Week 2: Renewable Energy Resources and Technology Overview

• Renewable Energy Resources and Technology Overview
  
• Solar Energy – Photovoltaics
  
• Solar Energy – Thermal Systems
• Application of Solar Energy Technologies in Agricultural Value Chains
• Case Studies
  

Find the video of week 2 via the following link:

• Renewable Energy Technology Overview by Prof. Ramchandra Bhandari, TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences

Further material:

• Article on renewable energy resources and technologies here
  
• Reader
  
• Additional material
  

Week 3: Bioenergy Overview

• Use of Bioenergy in Agricultural Value Chains
  
• Bioenergy Resources and Technologies
  
• Application in Agricultural Value Chains
• Case Studies
  

Find the video of week 3 via the following link:

• Bioenergy Resources and Technologies by Miguel Franco, Powering Agriculture Task Support Order (PASTO) & Director at Tetra Tech - Bionenergy and Environment
  

Further material:

• Article on bioenergy resources and technologies here
  
• Reader
  
• Additional material
  

Week 4: Energy Efficiency in the Energy-Agriculture Nexus

• Energy Efficiency in the Energy-Agriculture Nexus
  
• Energy Audits
  
• Life-cycle Assessment
• Case Studies
  

Find the video of week 4 via the following link: 

• Energy Efficiency in the Energy-Agriculture Nexus by Prof. Ramchandra Bhandari, TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences
  

Further material:

• Article on energy efficiency here
  
• Article on energy auditing here
  
• Reader
  
• Additional material
  

Week 5-7:
The Economics of the Energy-Agriculture Nexus

Week 5: Policies and Regulations for the Energy-Agriculture Nexus

• Macro-level: Policies and Regulations for the Energy-Agriculture Nexus
  
• Case Studies
  

Find the video of week 5 via the following link: 

• Policies and Regulations for the Energy-Agriculture Nexus by Alisher Mirzabaev, Senior Researcher at the Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn
  

Further material:

• Article on policies and regulations for the energy-agriculture nexus here
  
• Article on a comparison of various policy tools for promoting renewable energies here
  
• Reader
  
• Additional material
  

Week 6: Energy and Agriculture on Micro Level

• Micro-level: Investment Planning
  
• Feasibility Analysis
• Cost-benefit Analysis
  
• Case Studies
  

Find the video of week 6 via the following link: 

• Micro Economics of the Energy Agriculture Nexus by Stefania Bracco, expert in Energy-Smart Agri-Food Chains working for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
  

Further material:

• Article on techno-economic analysis in agricultural value chains here
  
• Article on agri-food enterprises in the nexus here
  
• Reader
  
• Additional material
  

Week 7: Business Models for Projects in Energy-Agriculture Nexus

• Business Models for the Energy-Agriculture Nexus
  
• Grid-connected Projects
  
• Off-grid Projects
• Value Chain Integrated Generation and Supply
  

Find the video of week 7 via the following link: 

• Business Models for the Energy-Agriculture Nexus by Prof. Ramchandra Bhandari, TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences
  

Further material:

• Article on business models for the energy-agriculture nexus here
  
• Case Study by FAO: "Techno-economic Analysis of Solar Pumps for sustainable Irrigation in Bangladesh" 
  
• Reader, including 3 real life examples: a gasification power plant fueled with rice husks in Vietnam; a solar dryer for drying fruits; and biogas plant for a farm
  
• Additional material
  

Week 8: Summary

• Summary
  

Find the video of week 8 via the following link: 

• Summary of the MOOC by Prof. Ramchandra Bhandari, TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences
  

Further material:

• Compiled course reader of the MOOC
  
• Additional material
  

The Global Initiative PAEGC and its Partners

Powering Agriculture – An Energy Grand Challenge (PAEGC) seeks to identify and support new and sustainable approaches to accelerate the development and deployment of clean energy solutions for increasing agriculture productivity and/or value in developing countries. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Duke Energy, and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) have combined resources to fund Powering Agriculture. GIZ supports the initiative on behalf of BMZ.  www.poweringag.org

Related Links

https://poweringag.org
http://www.bmz.de/en/
https://www.usaid.gov/
http://www.sida.se/English/
https://www.giz.de/en/
https://www.th-koeln.de/en/

Further Information

• Energypedia Portal of Powering Agriculture
  
• Opportunities for Agri-Food Chains to become Energy-Smart
  
• Powering Agriculture: An Energy Grand Challenge for Development
  
• Reader of the MOOC "Powering Agriculture - Sustainable Energy for Food"
  
• Manual and Tools for Promoting Solar Powered Irrigation Systems