InternationalJournalofEnergyScience(IJES)Volume4Issue4,August2014

doi:10.14355/ijes.2014.0404.01

www.ijesci.org

AssessmentofEnergyProductionOptionsin
LieuofOrangeCultivationinRiberaBaixa
(Valencia),Spain
EnriqueA.Navarro1,AlfredWong*2
InstitutodeRobticayTecnologasdelaInformacinyLasComunicaciones(IRTIC),UniversitatdeValncia,
Paterna(Valncia),Spain.
1

ArbokemInc.,Vancouver,Canada.

2
*

Correspondenceto:P.O.Box34173,VancouverV6J4N1,Canada.

Email:arbokem@arbokem.com

Received17March2014;Revised22April2014;Accepted24April2014;Published3July2014
2014ScienceandEngineeringPublishingCompany

Abstract
about57%ofthetotalorangeproductioninSpain(IVE,
2012).
Most of the oranges are grown in the province
The Comunitat Valenciana is the largest orange producing
of
Valencia.
Orange is cropped in about 19% of the
areaintheEuropeanUnion.Duringthepastdecade,orange
land area of Ribera Baixa, the highest among all the
croppinghasbeenundersevereeconomicstressarisingfrom
increasing competition from lesscostly foreign imports.
comarcas of the Comunitat Valenciana (GVA, 2010;
Consequently, farmgate prices are depressed to the extent
IVE,2012).ThegeographiclocationofRiberaBaixais
thatithaseffectivelyfallentothesameorbelowthecostof
given in Figure 1. The land holdings in Ribera Baixa
production. Orange groves are being abandoned in many
arehighlyfragmented(WongandNavarro,2013).The
instances.Preliminaryassessmentshowedthatconversionof
typical size of a single orangegrove holding is in the
orange grove in Ribera Baixa to produce energy does not
range of 0.2 to 1.0 hectare. It has been evident for
appeartobeaviableoption.Electricpowergenerationisnot
manyyearsthatthenetrevenuefromsuchsmallscale
practicable in the absence of government feedin tariff
orange cropping does not provide sufficient living
subvention. Photovoltaic power generation might however
income for the land owner. Indeed many growers
be practicable for self consumption under certain
circumstances.Useofcrudemicroalgaloildoesnotprovide
havealternativewagepayingofffarmemployment.It
sufficient economic benefits to the prospective onroad end
maybenotedthattherearealsosignificantnumberof
uses,inabsenceofanyexcisetaxexemption.Theproduction
farmers who combine rice cropping and orange
yield of crude moringa oil is far below that of crude
cropping activities to achieve sufficient income for
microalgaloiltobeofcompetitiveinterest.
sustenance.
Keywords
Biofuel;Economy;Energy;Oranges;RiberaBaixa;Valencia

Introduction
Orange (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck), one of the most
widelygrowntreefruitcropintheWorld,isnativeto
southernChina(Morton,1987).Cultivationoforanges
ineasterncoastalSpainbeganduringtheIslamicEra.
In the 1970s, there was a major rapid expansion of
orangeproductioninbothComunitatValencianaand
Andalusia. In 2010, Comunitat Valenciana produced
~1.51 million tonnes of sweet oranges, accounting for

During the past few years, the orange cropping

economyinSpainhasbeeninsignificantdecline.The
underlyingcausesarewellknown:higherinputcosts,
and longterm decrease in the price of fresh oranges
imported into the vital EU markets from overseas.
Bothcausesaredifficulttoresolve.Labourisandwill
continue to be a significant cost factor in the
production of fresh oranges. And the labour cost in
Spain is substantially higher than that in offshore
countries such as Brazil, Egypt, Morocco and South
Africa.Freertradewiththeseproducingcountriesinto
the EU is increasing irreversibly year by year.
Nevertheless, direct government subvention for

109

www.ijesci.orgInternationalJournalofEnergyScience(IJES)Volume4Issue4,August2014

sincethattimehashaltedthisexitstrategyabruptly.

orange growers has beensolicited actively during the

pastfewyears(Anon.,2011).Inviewofthecontinuing
national budgetary problems and the lack of priority
assigned to this agricultural sector under the EUs
Common Agricultural Policy, the outlook for off
settingfinancialsupportisdismal.

A new strategy of agricultural production and

distribution is needed to rectify this dismal economic
situation(WongandNavarro,2014). This project was
undertaken to determine if energy production in lieu
of orange cropping might be a viable practical
alternativeforRiberaBaixafarmland.

Up until about 2008, conversion of orange groves to

housing estates has been a particularly attractive
option for many farmers who wish to leave the
business permanently. However, the economic crash

Methods
Publicdomaindocuments,includingreports,statistics
and journal publications were used for the present
development and analysis of various energy
production scenarios for the remediation of the
decliningorangecroppingeconomyinRiberaBaixa.
Onanasrequiredbasis,USAcostdatawereadjusted
to2012byusingtheConsumerPriceIndexcalculator
published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics
(http://www.bls.gov/data/ inflation_calculator.htm).
The US currency was converted to Euro using
reference values published by the European Central
Bank (ECB; http://sdw.ecb.europa.eu/) for the
indicatedtime.Typically,USdollarcost(orprice)was
first adjusted for inflation (or deflation), and then the
inflation/deflationadjustedvaluewouldbeconverted
toEurosforthespecifiedtimeperiod.

39.2N

Results and Discussion

In view of the high incident solar radiation and
generally warm climatic conditions available at the
latitude of Ribera Baixa, it is logical to consider its
deployment to produce portable energy. Figure 2
showsthecandidateschemesevaluated.Inparticular,
liquidfuelmightbeproducedtooffsetthepurchaseof
petrodieselfuelforonfarmaswellasofffarmuses.

0.3W

Map:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mapa_de_la_Ribera_
Baixa.png
FIG.1GEOGRAPHICLOCATIONOFRIBERABAIXAINTHE
COMUNITATVALENCIANA

Annualaverageincidentsolar
radiationonahorizontalsurface
=4.49kWh/m2/day(ASDC,2012)
Photovoltaiccellsto
produceelectricity

~5,000hectaresoflandin
usefororangeproduction
inRiberaBaixain2011

Cultivationofmicroalgae
toproducecrudeoil

Croppingofoilbearingtrees
toproducecrudeoil
FIG.2CANDIDATEENERGYPRODUCTIONOPTIONS

110

Saletonational
powergridorto
localusersdirectly

Directuseinonfarm
andofffarmdiesel
engines

InternationalJournalofEnergyScience(IJES)Volume4Issue4,August2014

asfollows:

PowerGeneration

R=P*D*E*T(1)

During the past decade, Spain had an exceptional

large expansion in power generation capacity based
on renewables. This expansion was fuelled by
generous government subsidies and readily available
bankfinancing.AsofDecember31,2013,about30%of
theinstalledpowercapacitywasbasedonrenewables,
notablysolarandwind(RedElctricadeEspaa,2014:
7).Sincethestartoftheeconomicrecessionbeginning
in 2008, the Spanish government has terminated all
subventions for the installation of new renewables
powerproduction(MoralesandSills,2012).Moreover,
it has cut previouslypromisedfeedin tariff subsidies
successivelytoleavetheinvestorsofrenewablepower
generationinincreasinglyseriousfinancialdifficulties.
Althoughtheoperatingcostofpowerproductionfrom
renewables such as wind and solar is inherently low,
therecurringsignificantcostofcapitalborrowinghad
tobecontinuallyfinanced.Oneoftheconsequencesis
thesubstantialsteadyriseinthepriceof(grid)power
deliveredtoconsumerstocoverthefinancialshortfall.
Itisveryplausiblethatgridpowergeneratorsaswell
as the distribution network operator are also
exploiting the present subvention turmoil for
additional price increases. In order to quell the
growingpublicdiscontentaboutsteadilyrisingpower
cost in times of economic recession, the government
has now intervened in the market in a reversal of its
standingpolicyofenergymarketliberalization(Anon.,
2013a; Minder, 2013; Anon. 2014). This pretax price
reliefmaybetemporaryasthegovernmentstillneeds
higher tax revenue and lower financial subvention to
rebalancethenationalfinance.Theevolvingpolitical
economic situation has a considerable impact on the
ultimate viability of smallscale private power
generationforsaletothenationalgridortolocalusers
directly.
1)

where R= revenue (/ha per year), P = peak unit

power (MWp/ha), D = maximum daylight time
(hours/year), E = inverter efficiency (%) and T =
wholesaletariff(/MWh).
Thesimplepayouttimewascalculatedasfollows:
P=C/R(2)
where C = capital cost of installation () and R =
gross pretax revenue ( per year). The
assumptionsusedinthesecalculationsaregivenin
Table1.Themaximumnetoutputperhectarewas
calculatedtobe2,525MWhforsaleannuallytothe
grid. This value could be considered to be highly
idealized. In an evaluation of 26 fixedtilt
photovoltaic installations in the USA, the US
Department of Energy (2012) has found the direct
land use by annual electricity production to range
from 400 to 1,250 MWh per hectare. It may be
noted that most of the surveyed US installations
are located in desertlike regions of southwestern
United States. The production capacity of the
Moura project in Portugal had cited 2,685 MWh
generatedperhectareofcollectorsurfacemounted
ontrackers(Acciona,2008).
Under the highly idealized conditions used in the
present estimation, the maximum gross pretax
revenue would be 80,116 annually. At a capital
costof3.642millionperhectaregiveninTable1,
the simple payback time is calculated to be about
45 years. It is evident that there is inadequate
economy in the conversion of orange grove to
produce electricity (for the grid) by photovoltaic
means, in the absence of significant State
subvention.

LargescaleElectricPower

2)

In theory, orange cropland could be converted

easilytoproduceelectricityusingthephotovoltaic
(PV) technology. Unlike concentrated solar power
(including coupling to Stirling engines)
technologies, there would be no need for cooling
water. In the simplest configuration, there would
be no storage of heat or electricity during nosun
periods. For this preliminary analysis, highly
idealized conditions of PV power generation were
used.

SmallscaleElectricPower

Retail prices of PV panels and subsystems fell

substantially during the year, due in part to the
Spanish governments termination of all
subventions for new solar power production
(Morales and Sills, 2012). The other factor causing
lowerretailpriceswastheentryofmanylowcost
PVhardwaremanufacturersintotheEUmarket.In
retrospect, the generous subvention provided by
past Spanish governments had induced exuberant
expansion of solar power generation. At present,
PVpanels(240W/24V)areretailingatabout200
perunit.AndPVkits(5kWpeakpower,including

The annual revenue of a solar photovoltaic power

generation option for Ribera Baixa was estimated

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www.ijesci.orgInternationalJournalofEnergyScience(IJES)Volume4Issue4,August2014

TABLE1ASSUMPTIONSUSEDINTHECALCULATIONOFSOLARPHOTOVOLTAICPOWERGENERATIONUNDERHIGHLYIDEALIZEDCONDITIONS

Parameter

Representativevalue

Remarks

Inanevaluationof26fixedtiltphotovoltaicinstallationsintheUSA,theUS
DepartmentofEnergy(2012)hasfoundthedirectlandusebycapacityto
Power(peak)perunit 0.71MWp(peak,directcurrent)per
rangefrom0.23to0.71MWperhectare.
P
surfacearea
hectare
TheAndosolsolarphotovoltaicpowerstationnearGuadix[37.2N,
3.1W],Andaluciareported50MWinstalledcapacityfrom51hectares
grossfixedtiltcollectorsurface(SolarMillennium,2009).
Daylighthoursavailable
Total4,445daylighthoursannuallyatSueca(ASDC,2012).Assumed20
D
2,821hoursnetavailable
atthespecificlocation
rainydays.Deductionof2hoursaftersunriseand2hoursbeforesunset.
Typicalvalueforlossesincurredintheconvertingofdirectcurrentto
E
Inverterefficiency
80%
alternatingcurrent.Transformerefficiencyisassumedtobe100%.
Tariffatpretax
RepresentativeFirstQuarter,2012price(DG,2012).FeedintariffinSpain
T
50perMWh
wholesalelevel
willbecancelledasofDecember31,2012(DGEnergy,2012).
TheUSEIA(2010)valuewasadjustedforinflation(1.06multiplier)from
2010to2012,andthenconvertedatUS$1.2502to1.00usingECB3rd
Quarter,2012referenceexchangerate.
Costofinstallationof
3.642millionperhectare,without
TheAndosolProjectreportedacapitalcostof6,000perkWinstalled,
C photovoltaicpower
anythermalstoragecapacity(=
includingthermalstorageandextensiveinfrastructure(SolarMillennium,
system
5,130perkWpeak,installed)
2009).
5,460perkWwithtrackersystembutwithoutthermalstorage,citedfor
theMourasolarphotovoltaicpowerstation,nearAmareleja[38.2N,
7.2W],Portugal(Acciona,2008).

kWh,exclusiveoftaxesandfees.TheInstitutopara
la Diversificacion y Ahorro de la Energa reported
the average consumption of electricity of a
detachedmediumsizehouseintheMediterranean
region(includingRiberaBaixa)tobe8,363kWhper
year (IDAE, 2013). If the representative pretax
pricewas0.15perkWh,thepotentialvaluationof
PV electricity to be generated (for a house located
withinanorangeorchard)couldbe1,254annually.
The simple payout time for the installation of the
abovedescribedPVsystemwouldthusbeabout6
years,onapretaxbasis.

panelswiring,controller,batteriesandinverter)are
availablein the retail marketat~7,900, exclusive
of 21% VAT. The pretax cost such a kit would be
about1,580perkW.Accordingtothevendor(see
http://www.kitsolar.com), the kit could provide
sufficientfortheneedofamodernhousewithfull
complements
of
electrical
appliances.
Commentators and lobbyists have noted that the
renewable energy sector can help end the crisis
with investment in self consumption (Anon.,
2013b). But in the pursuit of acquiring new tax
revenue,thegovernmenthasimposedanexcisetax
on PV electricity generated for inhome personal
use in mid2013 (Government of Spain, 2013). In
view of this new tax, private PVgenerated power
has instantly become uneconomical, even for self
consumption.Ineffect,thesimplepayouttimefor
an average size house installed with simple PV
panels has now increased by 60% (Anon., 2013c).
This regressive taxation policy has effectively
deterred about 30% of the households with roofs
for PV panel installations from supplying own
pollutionfreeelectricity.ThesameRealDecretoLey
9/2013alsoappliestoanyinstallationofPVpanels
in privatelyowned orange orchards for the
generation of power for own use. In essence,
everyoneisbeingtaxedforusingtheSun!

EU27

0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014

Basis:Annualhouseholdconsumption:2,500to5,000kWh
Source:EUROSTAT,2014.

FIG.3AVERAGENATIONALELECTRICTYPRICES(WITHOUT
TAXES)FORMEDIUMSIZEHOUSEHOLDSINSPAIN
ANDTHEEU

As shown in Figure 3, the pretax retail price of

electricity for mediumsize households has been
rising rapidly since 2007. For comparison, in
December, 2012, the cost of electricity at the
household level in Ribera Baixa was 0.161 per

112

EU15

0.20

perkWh

Averageprice(withouttaxes),Euro

Spain

Without consideration of any standby power

demand and/or possible export of a small amount

InternationalJournalofEnergyScience(IJES)Volume4Issue4,August2014

of surplus power to the grid, these preliminary

calculations would suggest that the power
generationforselfconsumptionscenariomightbe
economicallyfeasible.

planned powerexport business of the energy

cooperative.
Furthermore, unfettered reasonable feeforservice
access to existing transmission and distribution
network may not be a certainty for the small
electric power producer such as the hypothetical
energy cooperative. Recent EC directives (e.g.,
Directive2009/72/EC)havemandatedthecomplete
segregation of power transmission business from
power generating companies to afford greater
marketcompetition.Thesmallindependentpower
producers still encounter the problem of un
availabilityofvolumediscountfornetworkusage.
The economic viability of prospective export of
surpluspowerbytheenergycooperativewould
thusbedegradedfurther.

Ifanenergycooperativeofselfconsumerswasto
convert one hectare of orange grove for PV
power generation, the potential pretax value of
electricity generated would be as much as 3
million on the basis 710 kWpeak per hectare (from
Table1).Theunsurprisinglyhighvaluationwould
certainly tempt the energy cooperative to sell
surpluspoweroutsidethefarmgate,toexploitthe
apparent large pretax price differential between
retail and wholesale electricity. It should be
cautioned however that the apparently favourable
economics is predicated on the assumption that
there is no cost incurred for transmission and
distribution to houses of selfconsumers located
virtually adjacent to the hypothetical PV power
generationsite.Inpractice,thisscenariomaynotbe
practicableas many existing houses within orange
grovesarenotfullyoccupiedonayearroundbasis,
and not sufficiently clustered to render shared PV
productionofelectricpower.

BiomassOils
The conceptual plan is to produce crude triglyceride
oil from microalgae or oilbearing tree crops. The
crude triglyceride oil would then be used directly in
diesel engines with little or no engine modifications.
Baquero et al. (2010) have reported successful
experimentaluseofstraightvegetable(triglyceride)oil
in farm diesel engines. In this fashion, the costly
refining of the crude triglyceride oil into approved
EN590 diesel fuel or EN14591 ester diesel blending
stockcouldbeavoided.

TABLE2AVERAGERATIOOFNETWORKPRICETOENERGYPRICEFOR
RETAILELECTRICITYDELIVEREDTODOMESTICCONSUMERS

2007

2008

2009

2010

Spain

Nodata

0.39

0.39

0.82

EU15

1.13

0.64

0.67

0.71

Sweden*

0.91

0.44

0.88

0.86

www.ijesci.org

As given in Table 3, the demand of diesel fuel for

orangeproductionisrelativelysmall,at~90litresper
hectare under orange cropping conditions which are
similar to those of Ribera Baixa. In comparison, the
demandforfuel(95%diesel+5%gasoline)isgivento
beabout300litresperhectareforricecropping(Greer
et al., 2012). For an orchard size of one hectare, the
annualdieselfuelexpensewouldbelessthan100for
stand maintenance, if the farmuse diesel fuel was
availableforpurchaseatnominal1.00perlitre(with
excise tax exemption and reduced valueadded tax).
This small expenditure certainly does not justify any
onpurposeproductionofliquidfuelforthispurpose.

*insertedforcomparison
Source:AdaptedfromEUROSTAT,2012.

If surplus power generated was to be exported

outside the farm gate of the energy cooperative,
there would definitely be a substantial addition of
network cost. Table 2 illustrates the magnitude of
the network cost relative to the base ( wholesale)
cost of electricity for Spain, Sweden and EU15.
With the addition of a network cost, the pretax
price differential between retail and wholesale +
network would narrow substantially for the

TABLE3FOSSILFUELUSAGEREPORTEDFORORANGEFARMSINSEVERALDIFFERENTCOUNTRIES

Location

Reference

Dieselfuel,litres/ha

Yield*,kg/ha

Remarks

Antalya,Turkey

Ozkanetal.,2004

338

Florida,USA

Pimentel,2006

186

46,000(field?)

50%vol.diesel+50%vol.gasoline

Manzadaran,Iran

Namdarietal.,2011

300

32,500(field?)

100%diesel;includingtillage(landpreparation)
anddeliveryofirrigationwater

SanJoaquinValley
OConnelletal.,2009
South(California),USA

87

28,845(field)

Diesel+gasoline;standmaintenanceonly.

Nonecited;about300 100%diesel;includingtillage(landpreparation)
treesperha
anddeliveryofirrigationwater

*Inthecaseoffreshoranges,packinghouseyieldistypically80%offieldyield.

113

www.ijesci.orgInternationalJournalofEnergyScience(IJES)Volume4Issue4,August2014

Nitrogenandphosphorusfrom
municipalliquidwastes

Incidentsolarradiation

Makeup
H2O

CO2

Cultivationof
exampleChlorella
spp.inopenpond

Partialrecyclingofwetbiomass

CMO

Mechanical
isolationand
filtration

wet
biomass

Readytousefuel
toreplacepetro
diesel

Oildepletedbiomass
Fluegas

Fueltoboilerfor
generationof
steamforin
factoryuses.

solids

biogas

Digestatetobeused
asfertilizer
supplement

Anaerobic
digestion

Source:AdaptedfromWongetal.,2013
FIG.4CONCEPTUALSCHEMETOPRODUCECRUDEMICROALGALOIL(CMO)INRIBERABAIXA

(2012)hasspecificrulesandregulationsgoverning
the collection of minimum excise tax on fuel in all
EUmemberstates.

However, production of biofuel for onroad uses

might be economically more attractive, in view of
continuedriseinthebasepetroleumpriceglobally.
MicroalgalOil

Depending on the final organizationalstructure of

theproductionfacility,itmaybepossibletoavoid
the payment of valueadded tax (VAT). For
example, each member of a biofuel cooperative
could use its ownproduced crude biooil, after
isolation and filtration at a centralized processing
facility. It could be argued that there was no
transfer of ownership of any goods to cause any
impositionofVAT.

In view of the abundant amount of sunlight and

warm ambient temperatures available annually,
microalgal oil production could be an attractive
candidate. As in the case of rice cropping in the
samegeographicregion,ithasbeenestimatedthat
aproductionof17,000litresofcrudemicroalgaloil
(CMO) per hectare might be feasible (Wong et al.,
2013). As given in Figure 4, the proposed
processing scheme would result in no effective
discharge of process effluents or solid wastes into
thereceivingenvironment.

Costsavingatpump,

In order to implement openpond production of

microalgae, a means to control the infiltration of
water through the soil would be required.
Moreover, an effective water management scheme
would also need to be established to account for
thehighevaporationofwaterfromtheopenpond
duringthehotsummermonths.

500
400
300
200
100
0
0.000

0.200

0.400

0.600

0.800

1.000

CMOproductioncost,perlitre

ThescenarioofproducingCMOforonroadusesis
examined in Table 4. The two principal
assumptionsusedinthisanalysisarethata)CMO
couldbeuseddirectlyinplaceofpetrodieselwith
minor engine modification to account lower
calorific value, b) the cost readytouse CMO
would be equivalent to the base pretax price of
petrodiesel, and c) excise tax for onroad usage
could not be avoided. The European Commission

114

Basecasesettobe
equivalenttothe
prevailingbasepretax
priceofpetrodiesel

600

peryear

1)

Excisetaxat0.331perlitre
Excisetaxexempted

FIG.5EFFECTOFEXCISETAXANDCMOPRODUCTIONCOST
ONANNUALCOSTSAVINGSINAMODESTSIZEDIESEL
VEHICLEUSING100%CMO

At the anticipated yield of 17,000 litres CMO per

year,conversionof~330m2ofpresentorangegrove
wouldbesufficienttoproduce~560litresofCMO

InternationalJournalofEnergyScience(IJES)Volume4Issue4,August2014

www.ijesci.org

of a single diesel model car could reach ~550

annually, if there was no excise tax on the CMO
and if the CMO production was 25% of the base
case.Thereisnopracticablemeanstoavoidpaying
theexcisetaxforonroadmotorvehicles.Itmaybe
notedthatalltaxexemptionforbiofuelsoldtothe
public will be terminatedin Spainas of December
31, 2012. In view of continuing Spanish national
budgetcrisis,thereisessentiallynoprospectofany
resumption of biofuel subsidy in Spain in the
immediatefuture.

fortheoperationofasinglemodeldieselvehicle(at
10,000 km usage per year) each year. But the
annual saving that could be accrued from
operating the model diesel vehicle would be 95.
The level of saving could be realized only after
expendingconsiderablecosttoconverttheorange
producing land for selfproduction of CMO as
petrodieselsubstitute.
Figure 5 shows the impact of excise tax and CMO
production cost on the realizable saving in motor
fuelcost.Notethatthecostsavingfortheoperation

TABLE4CRUDEMICROALGALOIL(CMO)PRODUCTIONOPTIONS

Assumptions:
o
CMOcanbeusedinconventionaldieselengineswithminorenginemodifications(Wongetal.,2012).
o
CMOproductivity=17,000litres/ha/year(Wongetal.,2012)
o
Fuelproperties:

Calorificvalue:42.3MJ/kgpetrodiesel;38.0MJ/kgCMO

Density:0.833kg/litrepetrodiesel;0.920kg/litreCMO
o
Referenceautomobile:KIARio2011UKmodel1.1CRDiManual(1.12litre;5passenger)withlowestemission(viz.,85gCO2perkm)of
anyinternalcombustionmotorvehiclessoldintheUK.http://www.kia.co.uk/~/media/specifications/rio_spec_sheet_updated.ashx

3.50litrespetrodiesel/100kmurban;123MJ/100kmurban

3.53litresCMO/100kmurbanatthesame123MJ/100kmurban

Typical14,000km/yearautomobileusage
o
Fuelpricing:

Farmuse:1.000/litrepetrodiesel,including0.07871/litreexcisetaxand18.0%VAT(EC,2012).Thecalculatedbasepretax
petrodieselpriceatpump=0.769/litre

Roaduse:1.298/litrepetrodieselatpump,calculatedfrombasepretaxpricetoinclude0.331/litreexcisetaxand18.0%VAT
(EC,2012).

CMOproductionoptions
1hectareindividualorchardinRiberaBaixa
RiberaBaixa
CMOZero
CMO20
CMO100
CMOMax
CMOproduction
%landuse
0
20
100
100

hectares
0
0.2
1.0
5,139(a)

litres/year
0
3,400
17,000
87,363,000

GJ/year
0
119
594
3,054,210
Petrodieselrequired(b)
litres/year
87
70
0
0

/year(c)
87
70
0
0
CMOsurplus
GJ/year
0
116
594
3,054,210

litres/year
0
3,330
17,000
87,363,000
Privatecarsfuelled(d)
number/year
0
7
33
171,982

cost/car/year(e)
654
559
559
559

savings/car/year

95
95
95
Grossfarmgaterevenue
/yearoranges(f)
6,250
5,000
0
0

/yearCMO(g)
0
2,560
13,069
67,160,099

/yeartotal
6,250
7,560
13,069
67,160,099
Notes:
(a) TotalareaoflandusedfororangecroppinginRiberaBaixain2011(GVA,2011).
(b) fororangefarming
(c) marketpriceat1.00/litreforfarminguses(DanielBuguera,personalcommunications,2012)
(d) adjustedforlowerCMOcalorificvalue
(e) Calculatedpumppriceofpetrodieselat1.298perlitre;CalculatedpumppriceofCMOfuel=1.100/litre(i.e.,0.769perlitrepretaxbase
price+0.331perlitreexcisetax,withoutanyVAT)
(f) Oranges:25tonnes/hectarex250/tonnexhectaresallocatedfororangecropping
(g) CMO:17,000litres/hax0.769/litre(excludingexcisetax)xhectaresallocatedforbiofuelproduction

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www.ijesci.orgInternationalJournalofEnergyScience(IJES)Volume4Issue4,August2014

required.Thebestmeanannualtemperaturerange
is25to35C(PaladaandChang,2003).Established
moringatreescansurvivelowtemperatureof0C
andhightemperaturesupto48C(Price,2007),for
short periods. Moringa is a fast growing plant
which is responsive to irrigation and fertilization.
Foidletal(2001)havereportedthatmoringashrub
would grow typically to 1.5 to 2 metres before
extensive branching starts. The corresponding
diameter at breastheight would be 20 to 40 cm.
Under intensive culture, green pods as well as
leaves could be harvested 6 to 7 months after
seeding(Schabel,2003).Fullproductivitycouldbe
attainedbythefourthyearafterseeding(Rajangam
et al., 2001). The conceptual scheme to produce
crude moringa oil is shown in Figure 6. Note that
allsolidwastesaremanagedgainfully.

The commitment of Spain to comply with the EU

biofuelobjectivesby2020(EC,2007)wouldbemet
bydecree.Intheabsenceofgovernmentsubsidies,
theremaybenofurtherexpansionofproductionof
biodiesel blending stock inside Spain. In the
fulfillmentofthisEUwidemotorfuelcomposition
requirements, biofuel blending stock could be
imported perhaps more economically from other
EU member states such as France and Germany.
However, this negative economic projection could
be mitigated substantially if the prevailing base
casepretaxpriceofpetroldieselrosesignificantly,
due to realterm rapid increases in global crude
petroleumprices.
2)

TreeoilCrops

Cultivationofjarak(JatrophacurcasL.)asanenergy
crophasbeenstudiedatseveralfieldtriallocations
in the Comunitat Valenciana by the Instituto
Valenciano de Investigaciones agrarias in about
2007 (IVIA, 2008; IVIA, 2009). Jarak grows best
under humid tropical conditions (DECD, 2005;
Daniel, 2006). This IVIA research project appeared
to have since abandoned, possibly because of the
intractableproblemofsupplyinglargequantitiesof
irrigationwaterforthemassproductionofaliquid
biofuel product that has no direct Spanish
government subvention in the market place (EC,
2012).

The productivity of moringa oil is estimated to be

in the range of 685 to 1,141 litres per hectare per
year,onthebasisofthefollowingassumptions:
o
o
o
o
o

In contrast, moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) is

highly valuable multipurpose small tree found in
tropical and subtropical regions of the World. All
parts of the tree, viz., leaves, pods, roots, bark,
stemsandtwigshavehighlynutritiousalimentary
uses(Hsuetal.,2006).Moringaisdroughttolerant.
Typically,itcanbegrowninareaswith250to1,500
mm rainfall annually (Radovich, 2011). Thus, with
the annual precipitation in Ribera Baixa rainfall
being about 500 mm, no irrigation would be

Plantingdensity=400trees/ha(Radovich,2011,
p.9)
Productivity at maturity = 15,000 to 25,000
seed/tree/year(Foidletal.,2001,Table1)
Seedweight=300milligrams/seed(Foidletal.,
2001,Table1)
Oilcontentofseed=35%byweight(Rashidet
al.,2008)
Crudeoildensity=0.920kg/litre

ItmaybenotedthatRadovich(2011)hassuggested
a yield of only ~225 litres per hectare per year for
natural cropping of moringa in Hawaii. If the
maximum output of 1,141 litres per hectare per
yearwasassumed,conversionof1/2ofonehectare
of orange grove would be sufficient for the
operation of a single model diesel car. The annual
demandofonemotorvehiclewouldbe~500litres
ofcrudemoringaoilperyear.

IncidentsolarradiationCO2(fromair)

H2O(from
rainfall)

Moringa
cropping

Optionalirrigation

Mechanicalseparationof
seedsfrommechanically
harvestedpods

Mechanicalcrushingofseeds
andoilfiltration

Solidresiduesasagriculturalmulch

Readytousefuel
toreplacepetro
diesel

FIG.6CONCEPTUALSCHEMETOPRODUCECRUDEMORINGAOILINRIBERABAIXA

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InternationalJournalofEnergyScience(IJES)Volume4Issue4,August2014

the exception of rice straw, olive oil mill wastes

(mainly found in Andalusia or Catalunya), farm
animalmanures(fromlivestockrearinginAsturias)
and fish meals (available largely from Galicia) are
not readily available locally for composting in
Ribera Baixa. Thus, cultivation of moringa
specifically for leaf production appears to be an
attractive proposition for boosting the nitrogen
content of rice straw (Ayuntamiento de Valencia,
2004)forthelocalpreparationofanaturalfertilizer
fororganictreecropping.Furthermore,microalgae
solids might be available if a crude microalgal oil
production project was realized separately in the
AlbuferaricecroppingareaofRiberaBaixa(Wong
et al., 2013). The cost of natural nitrogenous
fertilizer for organic cropping of oranges and tree
nutscouldthusbereducedsubstantially.

There is no reliable information available for

moringacroppinginnorthernlatituderegions.The
cropping of almonds in the Sacramento Valley
(Connell et al., 2012) was used as the surrogate to
estimate the possible production cost of moringa
oil. The climatic conditions and farm labour cost
structure of the Sacramento Valley (California)are
largelysimilartothoseofRiberaBaixa(Wongand
Navarro,2013).Harvestingofmoringapodswould
bemadebymechanicalshakinginasimilarfashion
astheharvestingofalmondsfrommaturetrees.In
the transcription to the Ribera Baixa location,
moringa cropping was assumed to be practicable
withouttheuseoffertilizers,pestcontrolchemicals
and irrigation water, and without any interest on
operatingcapital.
At the highest probable yield of 1,141 litres per
hectare per year cited above, and using the
production cost for almonds, i.e., US$3,923 per
hectare (Connell et al., 2012), the estimated 2012
production cost would be 2.75 per litre of crude
moringa oil (at ECB reference currency exchange
rate of 1.00 = US$1.2502 for 3rd Quarter, 2012).
Note that the additional cost of expressing crude
oil from the harvested moringa seeds has been
omitted in the present calculation of production
cost.

TABLE5COMPARATIVENITROGENCONTENTWITHSELECTEDNATURAL
FERTILIZERS

%totalNof
drymatter*

Moringa
leaves

35

References

Foidletal.,2001;Kakengietal.,
2007;MAG,2010;Perzetal.,2012.
Juliano,1985;Marimuthuetal.,
Ricestraw
0.50.9
2002;GoyalandSindhu,2011;El
Aksharetal.,2012.
Oliveoilmill
Khatibetal.,2010;LpezPieiroet
0.81.6
wastes
al.,2010.
Farmanimal
PrattandCastellanos,1981;Khatib
25
manure
etal.,2010.
Fishmeal
912
Sujeewa,2000;Kakengietal.,2007.
Microalgae
810
GonzlezLpezetal.,2010.
*Whereapplicable,Nwascalculatedasreportedprotein/6.25.

If the farmgate price was 2.50 per litre of crude

moringaoilafterdeductingnominal0.25perlitre
for infarm cost of expressing harvested moringa
seeds to produce readytouse crude oil, the
maximumgrossrevenuewouldonlybe~2,853per
hectare annually. This figure can be compared to
~13,000 per hectare for the CMO option, and
~6,250perhectareforthepresentorangecropping.
Even in the bestcase scenario, the conversion of
land for the production of crude moringa oil for
transportation uses would not be an attractive
alternative to currentlypracticed orange cropping
inRiberaBaixa.

PerennialEnergyCrops
Several perennial plants such as miscanthus
(Miscanthusgiganteus),switchgrass(Panicumvirgatum)
andgiantreed(ArundodonaxL.)havebeensuggested
as potential energy crops for the EU to meet the
mandated longterm goal of reducing the emission of
greenhouse gases. In particular, C4 plants are
recognized to be highly efficient in photosynthesis;
they are tolerant to drought as well as high
temperature conditions (Bower and Leegood, 1997).
Nevertheless, intensive water and fertilization
management were required to achieve maximal
growthofbothC3andC4energycrops(Angelinietal.,
2005; Mantineo et al., 2009; Nassi o Di Nasso et al.,
2010;Dopazoetal.,2010).Itisalsoinstructivetonote
the caution given by Ericsson et al. (2009) that high
profitabilityofenergycrops(especiallywithgenerous
government subvention) will lead to high land and
production costs for food crops, especially in the
cerealgrainproducingregionsoftheEU.

However, in view of the potential demand for a

natural nitrogen fertilizer for proposed organic
orangefarming, there could be a business casefor
theimplementationofmoringacropping,albeiton
a small scale, among the orange groves. In this
instance, moringa cropping could be undertaken
solelytoprovideyoungfoliageforthepreparation
ofgreenmanure.
Table 5 shows moringa leaves to have similar
nitrogen(N)contentasfarmanimalmanures.With

www.ijesci.org

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www.ijesci.orgInternationalJournalofEnergyScience(IJES)Volume4Issue4,August2014

lower than those in Matanzas (Cuba), for example. If

the80tonnesperhectareyieldwastranscribedinto
the prevailing Sueca meteorological conditions
withoutconsiderationofothergrowthfactorssuchas
different rainfall pattern and soil structure, the
expectedannualyieldwouldbedecreasedtobetween
20to60tonnesperhectare,ataboutthesamerangeof
biomassyieldasmiscanthusorgiantreedreportedin
abovecitedItalianfieldtrials.

Angelinietal.(2009)havereportedanaverageyieldof
~38 tonnes dry matter/hectare per year for giant reed
and~29tonnesdrymatter/haperyearformiscanthus
ina12yearfieldtrialincentralItaly(43.67N,10.32E;
2metresabovesealevel).Inaseparateshorter5year
fieldtrialinSicily(37.38N,14.35E;550metresabove
sealevel),Mantineoetal(2009)reportedaverageyield
of giant reed and miscanthus to be 33 tonnes/ha/year
and22tonnes/ha/year,respectively.Interestingly,aC3
plant (i.e., giant reed), afforded substantially higher
averageyieldthanaC4plant(i.e.,miscanthus)inboth
independent Italian studies. Zhu et al. (2008) have
estimated that continual rise in the average global
temperature as a result of higher atmospheric CO2
concentration would narrow the difference in solar
energyconversionefficiencybetweenC3andC4plants.
Dopazoetal.(2010)havecitedthatshorttermtrialsof
several selected cultivars of miscanthus in Portugal
under conditions of intense irrigation had provided
practicalyieldsofonly10to25tonnesdrymatterper
hectare.

Thefundamentalobstacletotheimplementationofthe
energycropping approach is that the pattern of
highly fragmented holdings in Ribera Baixa is not
conducivetomassscalefieldcropproduction.Evenif
theaboveissuecouldbeovercome,therearenolocal
end users, i.e., suitable solidfuel thermal power
generation facilities, to purchase the biomass
produced by these energy crops. Transportation of
compressed dried biomass, as a commodity, from
Valencia to thermal power plants in northern EU
countriesisfinanciallyimpractical.Itmayhoweverbe
noted that many Dutch thermal power plants have
beenimportingwoodpelletsfromCanadaaswellas
EasternEuropeforcofiringwithcoalformanyyears.
Themandatedstrategicgoalistoreducetheemission
ofgreenhousegases.

Sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum), a ubiquitous C4

plant,hasbeengrownroutinely,butnotasmassscale
monoculture, in southeastern Spain during medieval
Islamic time. Triana et al. (2008) has reported the
practicality of a new Cuban variety of sugar cane
which could provide proportionally higher yield of
fibrous biomass relative to the customary sugar juice.
Exceptionallyhighyieldofupto80tonnesperhectare
has been reported for experimental cultivation under
optimized conditions in Cuba (Alejandro Abril,
personal communication, 2013). Using the
methodology described by Weyer et al. (2010), the
theoretical practicable biomass yield from
phtotosynthesis under tropical conditions was
estimated to be 85 to 110 dry tonnes per hectare per
year. As shown in Table 6, average incident solar
radiation and temperature at Sueca are substantially

Conclusions
The problem of orange cropping in Ribera Baixa is
persistent and difficult to solve in view of continued
globalization of freer trade with competitive fresh
oranges arriving into the EU market from lowwage
producing countries. The solarenergy capture of
selected approaches was evaluated without
consideration of economics. Moreover, cultivation
activities were assumed to be under optimal
conditions in which cultivar selected, soil fertility,
appropriate year round temperatures, water supply,

TABLE6METEOLOGICALCONDITIONSFORSUGARCANECROPPINGINSUECA,SPAINANDINMATANZAS,CUBA

Basis:1year

Matanzas
(23.1N)
7,551
114
5.5
21.326.8
2,462

Sueca
(39.2N)
5,911
89
5.5
8.424.0
652

78
26

Averageannualfullspectrumincidentsolarradiation,MJ/m2(a)
Maximumtheoreticalyield(b),drymatter,kg/ha
Calculatedfullspectrumsolarenergyconversionefficiency,%(c)
Averagedailytemperature,C(a)
Degreedaysabove18C(a)minimumforbiomassgrowth(d)
Maximumtheoreticalyieldofdrymatter,relativetoMatanzas,%
Duetolowerincidentsolarradiation
Duetofewerdegreedaysavailable
(a) ASDC(2012)data
(b) BasedonthecalculationmodelofWeyeretal.(2010)forprimaryproduction.
(c) Cf.Zhuetal.(2008)hadcited4.6%and6.0%fullspectrumsolarenergyconversionefficiencyforC3plantsandC4plants,respectively.
(d) Deerr(1921:2430)hadcommented>70F(21C)foradequatebiomassgrowthandmaturation.

118

InternationalJournalofEnergyScience(IJES)Volume4Issue4,August2014

etc. are available without limit. The production of

energy,intheformofphotovoltaicelectricityorplant
oil as diesel fuel substitute, does not appear to have
sufficient economic advantages in lieu of present
orange cropping. The production of photovoltaic
electricity for self consumption might be practicable
under certain circumstances. The hurdle is not
technology, but government fiscal and regulatory
policies.

www.ijesci.org

02/12/Spaintoeliminateconsumerelectricityprice
auctionsinapril/.
Atmospheric Science Data Center ASDC. Surface
meteorologyandsolarenergyAvailableTables:Sueca,
ES; Matanzas, CU. Langley (VA): US National
Aeronautics

and

Space

Administration,

2012.

http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov
Ayuntamiento de Valencia. Biocompost. Technical Final
Report of LIFE Project LIFE00ENV/E/000555., October

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