If you're irrigating your crops, you need to account for the energy used to distribute the water to your crops. Details on irrigation are not mandatory to complete an assessment, but filling out this section will help the model to calculate the amount of energy use involved in irrigation (and therefore the GHG emissions associated). The Irrigation Energy section asks you for details of your irrigation system, which the model then uses in its calculations to estimate the energy usage. Inputting an estimate via the Fuel and energy means that you don’t need to also use the irrigation section to estimate the energy used.
The Cool Farm Tool does not currently include default values for the energy use of a “hose and pump” irrigation system; therefore, we recommend that you use an estimate for the energy used. You have the following options:
You can input your estimate for energy used directly into the Fuel and Energy section.
- If you cannot estimate the energy usage from this irrigation system and you need to use the Irrigation Energy model, the option of “flooding” may be the most similar option already available that could be used as a proxy.