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Energy and Emissions in Agriculture

Energy in Agriculture

Agriculture, including upstream energy to manufacture equipment, fertilizers, and pesticides, accounts for about 4% of world energy consumption.

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Sources: Audsley et al. 1, Bennetzen et al 2, Building Energy Codes Program 3, FAOSTAT 4, IRRI 5.

Wealthier countries tend to have higher crop yields and higher energy inputs, suggesting a tradeoff between land use and energy consumption in agriculture 6. In 2011, energy accounted for over 30% of corn, sorghum, and rice production costs 7, underscoring the importance of energy as a factor in food affordability.

The growing of crops is just a portion of energy consumption in the larger food system.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Agriculture is estimated to be responsible for over a third of world greenhouse gas emissions.

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Sources of agricultural greenhouse gases, with warming potential assessed by carbon dioxide equivalency. Source: Xu et al. 8. These estimates are somewhat higher than those made by FAOSTAT 4.

Other aspects of the world food system, such as packaging and transportation, contribute 15-25% of the emissions detailed above 9.

Following are estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from select foods.

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Source: Clark and Tilman 10.

Problem:
Mismanaged Subsidies
Solution:
Manage Subsidies

References

  1. Audsley, E., Stacey, K., Parsons, D., Williams, A. "Estimation of the greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural pesticide manufacture and use". Cranfield University, prepared for Crop Protection Association. August 2009. ↩

  2. Bennetzen, E., Smith, P., Porter, J. "Decoupling of greenhouse gas emissions from global agricultural production: 1970–2050". Global Change Biology 22(2), pp. 763-781. October 2015. ↩

  3. Building Energy Codes Program. "Prototype Building Models High-rise Apartment". Building Technologies Office, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U. S. Department of Energy. April 2011. ↩

  4. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. "FAOSTAT". ↩ ↩2

  5. International Rice Research Institute. "World Rice Statistics Online Query Facility". Accessed January 8, 2020. ↩

  6. Schneider, U., Smith, P. "Energy intensities and greenhouse gas emission mitigation in global agriculture". Energy Efficiency 2, pp. 195-206. December 2008. ↩

  7. Beckman, J., Borchers, A., Jones, C. "Agriculture’s Supply and Demand for Energy and Energy Products". United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Economic Information Bulletin Number 112. May 2013. ↩

  8. Xu, X., Sharma, P., Shu, S., Lin, T., Ciais, P., Tubiello, F. N., Smith, P., Campbell, N., Jain, A. K. "Global greenhouse gas emissions from animal-based foods are twice those of plant-based foods". Nature Food 2, pp. 724-732. September 2021. ↩

  9. Vermeulen, S., Campbell, B., Ingram, J. "Climate Change and Food Systems". Annual Review of Environment and Resources 37, pp. 195-222. November 2012. ↩

  10. Clark, M., Tilman, D. "Comparative analysis of environmental impacts of agricultural production systems, agricultural input efficiency, and food choice". Environmental Research Letters 12(6). June 2017. ↩