Trade-Offs in Net Life Cycle Energy Balance and Water Consumption in California Almond Orchards

Elias Marvinney, Jin Wook Ro and Alissa Kendall
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Elias Marvinney: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California Davis, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Jin Wook Ro: Energy Systems, Energy and Efficiency Institute, University of California Davis, 1605 Tilia, Suite 100, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Alissa Kendall: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California Davis, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USA

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-16

Abstract: Perennial cropping systems, such as almond orchards and vineyards, increasingly dominate California’s agricultural landscape. In California’s leading agricultural region, the Central Valley, woody perennials comprise about half of total farmland. Woody perennial orchards produce high value food crops such as almonds, but also generate significant woody biomass which, where feasible, is used to generate biomass-derived electricity. Because of its semi-arid climate, California agriculture is heavily dependent on irrigation, which in some regions, requires energy-intensive pumping processes for both surface and groundwater. This research study explores the tradeoffs in economic, energy and water efficiency, considering the response of almond orchards to water application rates, using a life cycle basis for calculations and considering water scarcity, to reveal one part of the food-energy-water nexus. Findings indicate economic efficiency, represented by business-as-usual practices by growers, and which prioritizes almond yield, does not correspond to the lowest net-energy consumption (i.e. energy consumption minus bioenergy production). Bioenergy production follows a parabolic relationship with applied water, due to almond yield and growth response to water availability. Thus, the net energy footprint of almond production is minimized at about −45% of business-as-usual applied water, at odds with the economic demands of the almond industry that prioritize high value food production.

Keywords: food-energy-water nexus; life cycle assessment; AWARE; water scarcity; perennial cropping systems; biopower (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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