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Producer Gas Fueled Irrigation: Evaluating the Potential of a Technology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2016

Clyde Kiker
Affiliation:
Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Florida
Eric Bauman
Affiliation:
Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Florida

Abstract

Development and commercialization of technologies that utilize on-farm energy sources are beset by uncertainty. Producer gas, a technology that allows wood to be converted to a gaseous fuel which can power internal combustion engines, is evaluated for irrigation systems using simulation modeling and stochastic efficiency analysis. For many market conditions, producer gas stochastically dominates diesel fuel for powering a center pivot irrigation system in terms of lower cost. Commercial potential exists, but experience with pilot installations is required to further reduce uncertainty.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 1984

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