Dear Colleagues,

Irrigated agriculture is key to meeting the food needs of the world's growing population in the coming years. The demand for more crop per drop has driven the replacement of traditional irrigation water delivery systems through open channels with pressurized pipe networks. These networks, at both the irrigation district and farm scale, increase the efficiency of irrigation systems. Conversely, they have high energy requirements. Thus, the sustainability of farms with pressurized irrigation is highly conditioned by the high costs of conventional energy sources.  These sources of energy, in addition to their high costs, are one of the main causes of global warming, currently the most serious environmental problem worldwide.

The technological development of renewable energies (e.g., solar and wind) and the consequent lowering of their costs have made them viable options for their application in irrigation. The use of renewable energies for irrigation water supply improves the sustainability of irrigated agriculture by reducing its production costs and environmental impacts, as a low-carbon activity, reinforcing the role of vegetation masses as CO₂ sinks.

The aim of this Special Issue is to publish papers on novel applications of renewable energies in irrigation. The subject matter of the papers ranges from the design of solar, wind and hybrid pumping systems; smart irrigation management systems with renewable energy sources, hydraulic energy recovery in irrigation networks by means of microturbines and pumps as turbines. Likewise, works related to the analysis of the life cycle of this type of facilities, the environmental footprint of irrigated crops with renewable energies, cost–benefit analysis, policies to promote the implementation of renewable energies for irrigation, would represent a suitable complement to the purely technological contributions.

Prof. Dr. Pilar Montesinos
Dr. Irene Fernández-García
Dr. Aida Mérida-García
Guest Editors

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• photovoltaic energy
• wind energy
• hydraulic energy
• hybrid systems
• smart irrigation management
• life cycle assessment
• environmental footprint