On-Farm Renewable Energy Systems: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Over the years, energy is becoming an essential factor with an impact on social, economic, and environmental aspects. More than 2.5 billion people are connected to agriculture worldwide, so the importance of agricultural energy production has become increasingly important. This study provides a comprehensive review of renewable energy, environment, and farm publication trends. Two hundred articles from 1988 to 2022 were analyzed, with special attention devoted to the last three extreme years, using the Scopus database and the Bibliometrix tool for analysis and visualization. Research on this topic experienced significant developments after 2008, with many fluctuations being revealed. Historically, China and the USA were the most productive countries in agricultural energy production advancements. However, in the last three years, the research center’s respective contributions have undergone major changes. China maintained its dominance, but the importance of the USA fell sharply, and new centers (India, Poland) appeared. Biogas is the most popular method which is used and searched in this area between 1988–2022 since it includes both sustainability and locality. However, between 2020–2022, the importance of the circular economy has been highlighted in the literature. Complex energy systems, dual use of land, and energy storage might be the most important challenges for future research.