=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-2030/HAICTA_2017_paper52
|storemode=property
|title=Energy Audit of Broiler Production Upon Different Production Seasons in Northern Iran
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2030/HAICTA_2017_paper52.pdf
|volume=Vol-2030
|authors=Saeed Firouzi
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/haicta/Firouzi17
}}
==Energy Audit of Broiler Production Upon Different Production Seasons in Northern Iran==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2030/HAICTA_2017_paper52.pdf
Energy audit of broiler production upon different
production seasons in Northern Iran
Saeed Firouzi
Department of Agronomy, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran
e-mail: firoozi@iaurasht.ac.ir
Abstract. The aim of this study was to investigate the energy use indices of
broiler production upon warm and cold seasons in Northern Iran. The data
were collected from 25 broiler farms with face-to-face questionnaire method.
The results showed that the total energy input and energy use efficiency were
22357.71 Mcal 1000birds-1 and 0.26 for warm season, and 30653.47
Mcal 1000birds-1 and 0.20 for cold season, respectively. Feed and diesel fuel
were ranked as the first (43.44%) and second (33.43%) energy inputs for
broiler production in warm season, while, the diesel fuel (51.58%) and feed
(31.73%) were ranked as the first and second most important energy inputs in
cold season, respectively. The share of non-renewable energy inputs for cold
season was less than that for warm season of production. Therefore, some
suggestions were proposed to better management of using the non-renewable
energy inputs in broiler production in cold season of production.
Keywords: energy use indicators; poultry; renewable; non-renewable energy.
1 Introduction
Poultry production is the most important agro-industry in Iran. Iran is ranked as the
20th broiler producers of the world. However, the domestic production does not meet
the home requirements. Broiler production industry consumes large amounts of direct
and indirect energy inputs including fossil fuels, electricity, and feed. Energy use
efficiency of broiler production in Iran is not satisfactory (Amid et al., 2016). Using a
large amount of non-renewable energy inputs including fossil fuels and electricity
leads to decrease the economic productivity and cause the undesirable environmental
impacts. Therefore, identifying energy saving approaches for broiler production
systems is a key proceeding in order to keeping the sustainability of broiler
production in Iran.
Analyzing the input-output energy and computing the energy indices are the most
reliable method to investigate the energy usage in agriculture (Rajaniemi and
Ahokas, 2012). Table 1 summarizes the top points of the related studies. The energy
consumed by heating system is ranked as the most important energy input among the
direct energy inputs in broiler production (Rajaniemi and Ahokas, 2015). Its share
varied with production season, the highest one being in cold seasons. Thus, the
highest energy saving is related to the heating system in broiler farms. Katajajuuri et
428
al. (2006) and Horndahl (2008) have also shown that energy consumed by heating
system contributes the most energy input of broiler production farms. According to
the Table 1, the fossil fuels specially for diesel oil has been known as the most
important energy input among the inputs consumed in broiler production agro-
industry in Iran.
To the best knowledge of the authors, no study has been yet done on the analysis
of energy use of broiler production inputs in Guilan Province, Iran. Moreover, the
effects of production season (warm and cold) on the energy use inputs and indices
are absent in the corresponding literatures cited. So, the present study aimed at
evaluation of the impact of production season on the energy consumption indices of
broiler production in Guilan Province, Northern Iran.
Table 1. Summary of the literature on the energy analysis of broiler production
Number of
Energy use Energy use
Authors broiler
efficiency hotspots
farms
0.16 for
Amini et al., Diesel fuel
70 traditional and 0.17
2015 & feed
for modern farms
Kalhor et al., Feed &
40 0.26
2016 Electricity
Amid et al., Diesel fuel
70 0.18
2015 & feed
Feed &
Kilic, 2016 29 0.94
water
Heidari et Diesel fuel
44 0.15
al., 2011 & feed
Yamini Sefat Gasoline &
50 0.15
et al., 2014 Feed
3 small 0.21
Najafi et al., Diesel fuel
2 medium 0.27
2012 & feed
1 large 0.36
Current
25 farms --- ---
study, 2016
2 Materials and Methods
This study was carried out in Rasht City, Guilan Province, Iran in the summer and
winter of 2015. Guilan Province lies between the latitudes of 36°34' and 38°27' N
and the longitudes of 48°53' and 50°34' E. Rasht City is the center of Guilan
Province and the leading broiler producer of the province with 146 small and large
broiler farms around it. Given the limitations of the study and the precision intended
in data collection, energy consumption dataset represents 25 broiler production
farms.
429
Research data were collected using a questionnaire and face-to-face interview with
the managers of broiler farms. All questions were asked for warm season (summer)
production and cold season (winter) production separately.
The inputs of broiler production systems included (1) machinery, (2) fossil fuels,
(3) electricity, (4) labor, (5) feed, (6) medications, (7) disinfectants, and (8) chicks,
and the output included (1) broilers and (2) poultry wastes or litter.
Energy equivalent of inputs (in Mcal U-1) were calculated for fossil fuels,
electricity, labor, chicks, feed ingredients, disinfectants and medications by
multiplying their consumption quantity for 1000 birds by their equivalent energy
(Table 2). Also, energy equivalent of system outputs (broiler and poultry litter) was
calculated by multiplying equivalent energy by the output quantity.
Table 2. Different forms of energy inputs of broiler production in Northern Iran
Energy coefficients
Items Reference
(Mcal U-1)
Input
Labor 0.54 (Cook et al. 1980)
Machinery (h) 62.70 (Singh et al. 2002)
Diesel fuel (l) 11.38 (Singh et al. 2002)
Electricity (kWh) 2.85 (Singh et al. 2002)
Feed
-Dicalcium phosphate (kg) 2.39 (Atilgan, 2006)
-Salt (kg) 0.38 (Sainz, 2003)
-Corn (kg) 1.89 (Atilgan, 2006)
-Soybean (kg) 2.88 (Atilgan, 2006)
-Minerals and Vitamins (kg) 0.38 (Sainz, 2003)
Medicines (kg) 3.26 (Atilgan, 2006)
Disinfectants (kg) 0.1 (Najafi et al., 2011)
Chick (kg) 2.47 Amid et al. (2014)
1 cal=4.184 J
Total energy input was divided into direct and indirect and into the renewable and
non-renewable forms. Direct energies included energy equivalent of labor, fossil
fuels, and electricity. Indirect energies included feed, machinery, poultry litter,
disinfectants, medications, and chicks. Renewable energies were energy equivalent
of feed, labor, chicks, and poultry litter and non-renewable energies included
machinery, fossil fuels, electricity, and disinfectants. Renewable energies are energy
sources supplied from natural resources and are capable of natural restoration,
whereas, the non-renewable energies like fossil fuels are derived from energy sources
produced from animal and plant residuals in lower layers of the Earth under pressure
and heat and will be depleted some day (Demirel, 2012).
Energy consumption indices including energy ratio, energy productivity, specific
energy and net energy gain were calculated for two production seasons (warm and
cold), and for total poultry farms by the following equations (Kalhor et al., 2016):
Energy ratio=Output energy (Mcal 1000bird-1)/Input energy (Mcal 1000bird-1) (1)
430
Energy Productivity= Broiler Production (kg 1000bird-1)/Input Energy (Mcal (2)
1000bird-1)
Specific Energy= Input Energy (Mcal 1000bird-1)/ Broiler Production (kg (3)
1000bird-1)
Net energy= Output energy (Mcal 1000birds-1) - Input energy (Mcal 1000birds-1) (4)
3 Results and Discussion
This section first determines the contribution of individual inputs consumed for
broiler production. Then, the energy indices are calculated and the results are
contrasted with other studies on consumed energy indices for broiler production.
3.1 Energy Inputs and Outputs
Results showed that the interviewed broiler farms included 10 small-sized (<20,000
birds), 8 medium-sized (20,000-30,000 birds), and 7 large-sized broiler farms
(>30,000 birds). Table 3 shows the average energy equivalents of inputs used to
produce broilers in summer and winter seasons in Guilan Province, Northern Iran.
Total energy inputs were estimated at 22,357.71 and 30,653.47 Mcal 1000birds-1 for
summer and winter seasons, respectively. All values are lower than those reported by
Amini et al. (2015) for broiler production in Mazandaran Province, Iran (42,625 and
45,124 Mcal 1000birds-1 in traditional and modern broiler production systems,
respectively). It implies that the energy input in summer was lower than the winter. It
can be related to the lower diesel fuel consumption in warm season. Figs 1 and 2
show that the diesel fuel contributed for 33.43 and 51.58% of the total energy input
in warm and cold seasons, respectively. Moreover, diesel fuel ranked the first energy
input to produce broiler in cold production season in Northern Iran. Therefore, it has
the highest energy saving potential in the broiler production agro-industry in winter.
Rajaniemi and Ahokas (2015) also introduced the heating energy of broiler farm
having the most important energy saving potential in Finland. Choosing more
efficient heating systems and giving sufficient notice to their adjustments and
maintenance have profound impacts on the fuel energy use in broiler farms. In this
regard, enhancing the information of broiler farms managers about the technical
specifications of heating systems in accordance with the broiler farms buildings and
suggested preventing solutions to save heating energy in broiler farms is of highly
importance.
431
Table 3. Amounts of various energy inputs for broiler production in warm and cold seasons in
Northern Iran.
Warm season Cold season
Items
(Mcal 1000birds-1) (Mcal 1000birds-1)
Inputs
Labour 74.27 74.25
Machinery 285.83 282.97
Diesel fuel 7473.83 15809.61
Electricity 4698.76 4645.67
Feed 9713.31 9729.00
Medicines 11.71 11.91
Disinfectants 1.17 1.19
Chick 98.83 98.87
Total input 22357.71 30653.47
Outputs
Poultry meat 5677.50 6006.89
Poultry litter 158.63 149.88
Total output 5836.13 6156.17
Figs 1 & 2 show that the broilers’ feed ranked the first in warm season and second
energy input in cold production season (43.44 and 31.73% of the total energy input,
respectively). Therefore, management the feed consumption besides the special
notice to the chicken feed should be considered by the broiler farms managers. Kilic
(2016) also reported the chicken feed as the first ranked input of broiler and laying
hen production in Bursa region of Turkey (70.49 and 78.86% of the annual total
energy input). Feeding broilers with a low-protein feed and using well-designed
feeder implements are among management proceedings to achieve optimal use of
broiler feed and then, improving the energy input of feed in broiler production.
Besides the importance of fossil fuels in terms of depletion of non-renewable
resources, the CO2 emissions of burning fossil fuels is a global challenge which
should be considered in poultry production ago-industry in Northern Iran. Using
biofuels may be considered as a solution to lower the CO2 emissions of poultry agro-
industry in the study region.
To save energy use in broiler production systems, the farmers should have means
to measure energy consumed and follow the energy consumption. Moreover, they
must be informed about the energy saving possibilities and machinery energy
consumptions.
3.2 Energy Indices
Energy consumption indices are shown in Table 4 for broiler production in warm and
cold seasons in Guilan Province, Iran. Energy ratio for broiler production in warm
season (0.26) was estimated at 0.26 compared to that of cold season (0.20). In other
words, broiler production in warm season possesses more favorable energy
advantage. Energy productivity for broiler production was 0.10 and 0.08 kg Mca-1 in
432
Other inputs
(2.11)
Diesel fuel
(33.43%)
Feed (43.44%)
Electricity
(21.02%)
Fig. 1. Contribution of main energy inputs for broiler production in warm season
Other inputs
(1.53%)
Feed (31.73%)
Diesel fuel
(51.58%)
Electricity
(15.16%)
Fig. 2. Contribution of main energy inputs in broiler production in cold season
warm and cold seasons, respectively. It means that 0.1 and 0.08 kg broiler meat are
produced in warm and cold seasons as per 1 Mcal energy consumed, respectively.
Fig. 3 shows the shares of various forms of energy inputs in terms of direct and
indirect energy, and renewable and non-renewable energy inputs. The share of
renewable energy inputs in cold season (32.25% of the total energy inputs) is lower
than the half the non-renewable energy inputs (67.75%). Therefore, substituting the
433
Table 4. Energy indices of broiler production in warm and cold seasons in Northern Iran.
Indicators Unit Warm season Cold
season
Energy ratio % 0.26 0.20
Energy productivity kg Mcal -1 0.10 0.08
Specific energy Mcal kg -1 9.79 12.74
Net energy gain Mcal 1000birds-1 -14468.44 -24549.73
non-renewable resources with the renewable energy ones and substituting the
warming implements with the modern and more efficient systems must be considered
for enhancing the energy productivity and mitigating the negative impacts of using
the non-renewable energy inputs in broiler production in Northern Iran, especially for
cold production seasons. Also, recovering some of heating energy from the exhaust
warmed air, optimization of ventilation systems, and appropriate isolations of broiler
farm saloons and heated air conveying ducts may be among the useful applied
proceedings to lessen energy inputs in broiler production (Rajaniemi and Ahokas,
2015).
67.75% 67.03%
70 Cold Season
55.68% 54.67% Warm season
60
45.33%
Percentage (%)
50 44.32%
40 32.25%
32.97%
30
20
10
0
Renewable energy Non-renewable Direct energy Indirect energy
energy
Energy forms
Fig. 3. Various energy forms used for broiler production in warm and cold seasons
434
3.3 Correlation between Farm Sizes, Energy Input, and Output
Table 5 indicates the correlations between the farm size and energy input and output
for broiler production upon warm season in Guilan Province, Iran. An inverse
significant correlation was found to be between the farm size and energy input for
broiler production (p≤0.05). It implies that the large farms used the least amount of
energy input. It was also reported that there were negative correlations between the
farm size and energy use in paddy and corn farms in Iran. Generally, large farms
were more energy efficient than the medium and small farms (Pishgar Komleh, 2011;
Pishgar Komleh, 2012).
Table 6 also illustrates the correlation between the farm size, energy input and
output for broiler production upon cold season. The inverse significant correlation
also is seen between the farm size and energy input for broiler production in cold
seasons (p≤0.05). This result also may be contributed to the better energy use
management in large broiler farms compared to the medium and small broiler farms.
Table 5. The correlation between farm size, energy input and output for broiler production
upon warm season in Guilan Province, Iran (p≤0.05).
Farm size Energy input Energy output
Farm size 1.00 -0.76 -0.41
Energy input -0.76 1.00 0.20
Energy output -0.41 0.20 1.00
Table 6. The correlation between farm size, energy input and output for broiler production
upon cold season in Guilan Province, Iran (p≤0.05).
Farm size Energy input Energy output
Farm size 1.00 -0.83 -0.34
Energy input -0.76 1.00 0.21
Energy output -0.34 0.21 1.00
4 Conclusions
The results of the study showed that the diesel fuel and feed were ranked as the
first and second energy inputs for the broiler production in cold season, while, the
feed and diesel fuel had the greatest energy shares among energy inputs in the warm
production season in Guilan Province, Iran. The share of renewable energy inputs in
broiler production (32.25% and 44.32% of the total energy input for cold and warm
435
seasons, respectively) were determined to be less than those of the non-renewable
inputs (67.75% and 55.68% of the total energy input for cold and warm seasons,
respectively). Therefore, management of fossil fuel use as the most important non-
renewable energy resource consumed in broiler production through selecting more
energy efficient heating systems and using the renewable energy resources for
heating broiler farms are suggested to enhance the energy efficiency and mitigate the
negative environmental impacts of broiler production in cold seasons in Guilan
Province, Iran.
Acknowledgements. The author is grateful for support from Rasht Branch, Islamic
Azad University.
References
1. Amid, S., Mesri Gundoshmian, T., Rafiee, Sh. and Shahgoli, Gh. (2015) Energy
and economic analysis of broiler production under different farm sizes. Elixir
Agriculture, 78, p.29688-93.
2. Amid, S., Mesri Gundoshmian, T., Shahgoli Gh. and Rafiee, Sh. (2016) Energy
use pattern and optimization of energy required for broiler production using data
envelopment analysis. Information Processing in Agriculture, 3, p.83–91.
3. Amini, Sh., Kazemi, N. and Marzban, A. (2015) Evaluation of energy
consumption and economic analysis for traditional and modern farms of broiler
production. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 7(1), p.905-11.
4. Demirel, Y. (2012). Energy, Green Energy and Technology. Springer-Verlag
London Limited 2012, p.27-70.
5. Dyer, J. and Desjardins, R. (2003) Simulated farm fieldwork, energy
consumption and related greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. Biosystems
Engineering, 85, p.503-13.
6. Esengun, K., Erdal, G., Gunduz, O. and Erdal, H. (2007) An economic analysis
and energy use in stake tomao production in Tokat province of Turkey, Renew
Energy 32, p.1873-81.
7. Heidari, M.D., Omid, M. and Akram, A. (2011) Energy efficiency and
econometric analysis of broiler production farms. Energy 36, p.6536-41.
8. Horndahl, T. (2008) Energy use in farm building - a study of 16 farms with
different enterprises. Revised and translated second edition. Swedish University
of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Landscape Planning, Horticulture and
Agricultural Science. Report 8, 43 p. Cited 15 August 15 May 2014. 2014,
http://pub.epsilon.slu.se/3396/1/Eng-rapport145-v1.pdf
9. Kalhor T., Rajabipour A., Akram A. and Sharifi M. (2016) Modeling of energy
ratio index in broiler production units using artificial neural networks. Sustainable
Energy Technologies and Assessments, 17, p.50-55.
10. Katajajuuri J.M., Grönroos J., Usva K., Virtanen Y., Sipilä I., Venäläinen E.,
Kurppa S., Tanskanen R., Mattila T. and Virtanen H. (2006) Environmental
impacts and improvement options of sliced broiler fillet production. Maa- ja
436
elintarviketalous 90. 118 p. http://www.mtt.fi/met/pdf/met90.pdf (In Finnish,
extended summary in English)
11. Khoshnevisan, B., Rafiee, S., Omid, M., Yousefi, M. and Movahedi, M. (2013)
Modeling of energy consumption and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions in wheat
production in Esfahan province of Iran using artificial neural networks. Energy
52, p.333-38.
12. Kilic, I. (2016) Analysis of the energy efficiency of poultry houses in the Bursa
region of Turkey. Journal of Applied Animal Research, 44, p.165-72.
13. Mobtaker, H.G., Akram, A., Keyhani, A. (2012) Energy use and sensitivity
analysis of energy inputs for alfalfa production in Iran. Energy Sustainable Dev,
16, p.84–89.
14. Mohammadi, A., Rafiee, S., Mohtasebi, S.S. and Rafiee, H. (2010) Energy inputs
- yield relationship and cost analysis of kiwifruit production in Iran. Renewable
Energy, 35, p.1071-75.
15. Najafi, S., Khademolhosseini, N. and Ahmadauli, O. (2012) Investigation of
Energy Efficiency of Broiler Farms in Different Capacity Management Systems.
Iranian Journal of Applied Animal Science, 2(2), p.185-89.
16. Pishgar-Komleh, S.H., Ghahderijani, M. and Sefeedpari, P. (2012) Energy
consumption and CO2 emissions analysis of potato production based on different
farm size levels in Iran Journal of Cleaner Production, 33, p.183-91.
17. Rafiee S, Mousavi-Avval SH, Mohammadi A. (2010) Modeling and sensitivity
analysis of energy inputs for apple production in Iran. Energy, 35, p.3301–6.
18. Rajaeifar, M.A., Ghobadian, B., Safa, M. and Heidari, M.D. (2014) Energy life-
cycle assessment and CO2 emissions analysis of soybean based biodiesel: a case
study. Journal of Cleaner Production, 66, p.233-41.
19. Rajaniemi, M. and Ahokas, J. (2012) A case study of energy consumption
measurement system in broiler production. Agronomy Research Biosystem
Engineering, Special Issue 1, p.195-204.
20. Rajaniemi, M. and Ahokas, J. (2015) Direct energy consumption and CO2
emissions in a Finnish broiler house – a case study. Agricultural and Food
Science, 24, p.10-23.
21. Royan, M., Khojastehpour, M., Emadi, B. and Mobtaker, HG. (2012)
Investigation of energy inputs for peach production using sensitivity analysis in
Iran. Energy Convers Manage, 64, p.441–46.
22. Safa, M. and Samarasinghe, S. (2012) CO2 emissions from farm inputs “case
study of wheat production in Canterbury, New Zealand”. Environmental
Pollution, 171, p.126-32.
23. Yamini Sefat, M., Borghaee, A.M., Beheshti, B. and Bakhoda, H. (2014)
Modelling Energy Efficiency in Broiler Chicken Production Units Using
Artificial Neural Network (ANN). International Journal of Natural and
Engineering Sciences, 8, p.7-14.
437