H11N-08
Integrated Food-Energy Systems: Challenges and Opportunities

Monday, 14 December 2015: 09:45
3011 (Moscone West)
Michael Gerst1, Michael E Cox2, Kim A Locke3, Mark Laser4, Michael Raker5, Curt Gooch6 and Anne R Kapuscinski2, (1)University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD, United States, (2)Dartmouth College, Environmental Studies Program, Hanover, NH, United States, (3)Dartmouth College, Environmental Sciences, Hanover, NH, United States, (4)Dartmouth College, Thayer School of Engineering, Hanover, NH, United States, (5)Agricultural Energy Consultants, Burlington, VT, United States, (6)Cornell University, Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Ithica, NY, United States
Abstract:
Predominant forms of food and energy systems pose multiple challenges to the environment as current configurations tend to be structured around centralized one-way through-put of materials and energy. One proposed form of system transformation involves locally integrating “unclosed” material and energy loops from food and energy systems. Such systems, which have been termed integrated food-energy systems (IFES), have existed in diverse niche forms but have not been systematically studied with respect to technological, governance, and environmental differences. This is likely because IFES can have widely different configurations, from co-located renewable energy production on cropland to agroforestry.

As a first step in creating a synthesis of IFES, our research team constructed a taxonomy using exploratory data analysis of diverse IFES cases (Gerst et al., 2015, ES&T 49:734-741). It was found that IFES may be categorized by type of primary product produced (plant- or animal-based food or energy) and the degree and direction of vertical supply chain coordination.

To further explore these implications, we have begun a study of a highly-coordinated, animal-driven IFES: dairy farms with biogas production from anaerobic digestion of manure. The objectives of the research are to understand the barriers to adoption and the potential benefits to the farms financial resilience and to the environment. To address these objectives, we are interviewing 50 farms across New York and Vermont, collecting information on farmer decision-making and farm operation. These results will be used to calibrate biophysical and economic models of the farm in order understand the future conditions under which adoption of an IFES is beneficial.