Electrification and Sustainable Energy Systems to Improve Agriculture and Rural Areas

Dear Colleagues,

According to the United Nations sustainable objectives, agriculture is the single largest employer in the world, sustaining the livelihoods of 40 percent of the world’s population, many of whom continue to live in poverty. Agriculture uses a large amount of water, which in turn requires a lot of energy to be transformed to the point where it can actually be used. Such energy is usually electric, which implies a great economic cost as well as greenhouse gas emissions, since it is usually of non-renewable origin. Today, rural areas are unpopulated, but this must be changed. In addition, rural areas contain the largest amount of crops on the planet. Sustainable energy systems are the solution to many of the problems regarding the growth of energy demand, and therefore, their sustainable development must begin to proliferate. These systems must be supported by renewable generation sources, distributed storage and new control and management techniques. Sustainable energy systems should be implemented in modern agriculture and rural areas, allowing in the latter a more efficient and sustainable electrification. With this scenario, this Topic is focused on electrification and sustainable energy systems to achieve an improvement in agriculture and rural areas. These developments will allow for a more sustainable and efficient agricultural system and rural areas.

Prof. Dr. Luis Hernández-Callejo
Prof. Dr. Miguel-Ángel Muñoz-García
Topic Editors