Abstract

The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive investigation of the ecological agriculture of quaternity, an innovative mode of energy engineering emerging in North China’s rural areas. A delineation and analysis of the composition, functions and principles for designing and working concerning this energy model is conducted. The input, output and input-output ratio with reference to energy in this system and its three subsystems is estimated, compared and discussed, based on the data from a trial sample. The study finds that this quaternity energy mode fulfills an organic integration of the planting industry and the breeding industry and also integration of production and life, affording self-sufficient materials for biogas fermentation and generating abundant organic fertilizers, thus to achieve benign circulation of energy and material flows and ultimately accomplish a high unification of energy, ecology, economic and social utilities. On the empirical evidence, the study exhibits that this model of energy engineering operates well and is energy-concentrated, with rationality in the agro-production structure and considerable comprehensive efficiency. Nevertheless, its energy productivity is merely at a middling level and the area and variety of crops is minor. The study concludes with pointing out proposals of improving and popularizing this energy engineering pattern.

Keywords:

Energy engineering , quaternity model , rural area, sustainability,

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

Open Access Policy

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Copyright

The authors have no competing interests.