An overview of the literature on barriers to the diffusion of renewable energy sources in agriculture

This paper discusses the current status of the literature on barriers to the diffusion of renewable energy sources at an international level. A barrier may be defined as any [`]negative factor' that relates to the marketing and utilization of a technology or source and hampers its widespread use; these may be economic and commercial, operative, social or institutional factors. The literature reviewed here has been selected from international databases and from other Italian sources. This paper is mainly concerned with renewable energy sources in general, solar energy, biomass conversion for energy production (thermochemical and biochemical processes) and wind power for electricity generation. The evaluation carried out has demonstrated the importance of economic barriers in terms of competitiveness with conventional energy sources. Operative barriers are also relevant. Consequently, easy-to-run, automatic and simple plants are to be preferred when a renewable energy source is introduced at the farm or village level. In addition, there is a need to intensify research in the field in order to develop suitable renewable energy plants and to overcome the barriers which still exist.