Thesis Abstract

Agriculture is a major consumer of energy resources for various farm operations like irrigation, crop drying, processing, etc. With rising energy costs and climate change concerns, it is important for farmers to optimize their energy use through periodic energy audits. The objective of this study was to evaluate different farm energy auditing tools and techniques available in India. A literature review was conducted to understand commonly used energy auditing methodologies. Hands-on training was provided to farmers on five different energy audit tools/apps. Post-training, farmers independently conducted energy audits of 10 farms each using the different tools and their observations were recorded. The tools were then evaluated based on parameters like ease of use, accuracy, cost, etc. The study concluded that while specialized software provided most detailed analysis, simple spreadsheet-based tools were adequate for basic energy audits and awareness generation at the farm level.

Thesis Overview