CASE STUDY 6 : Energy Balance of Agriculture - Inputs in Crop Production
CASE STUDY 6:
Energy Balance of Agriculture - Inputs in Crop Production
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Agriculture is the cornerstone of human civilization, but keeping it sustainable is becoming harder. With populations growing, climates changing, and resources running out, there are more and more challenges to take into consideration. Energy has always been an important component in farming whether in the form of human labour or, increasingly, by machine, it powers machines, enriches soil, controls pests, and keeps fields watered. Without energy, producing food efficiently would be impossible. But using so much energy comes with environmental and economic consequences. Therefore, it is important to achieve a careful balance to ensure sustainability in agriculture.
Common Energy Inputs in Agriculture
https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/fabe-6621
Energy inputs in crop production can be classified into two categories: direct energy and indirect energy.
1) Direct Energy Inputs
- Fuel for machinery: tractors, harvesters and irrigation pumps rely a lot on diesel and electricity when operating
- Electricity: Essential when powering irrigation systems and ensuring proper storage conditions for harvested crops
- Automation technologies: Tools such as seeders, sprayers, and tillers that minimize the need for manual effort but require a lot of energy to operate
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- Fertilizers: Demand intensive energy to get processed.
- Pesticides: their manufacturing involves a lot of energy because of their complex chemical composition and synthesis processes.
Transportation is also an integral part of food systems, with modern-day economies often requiring food to be transported long distances to reach consumers; The energy required to transport agricultural products is therefore also an important consideration in analyzing food systems.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111211
Environmental Implications
Not all farmers operate in the same way, and different practices come with different energy requirements. This can have important environmental implications. Production methods that rely more on heavy machinery – as is common in the developed world – will naturally require larger amounts of energy to power these machines, compared to more labour-intensive practices which rely on human power. This usually leads to major disparities in energy requirements between developed and developing countries (Pimentel, 2009).
Many agricultural machinery such as tractors rely on fossil fuels, thus contributing to emissions. This is also usually true of the transportation used to ship agricultural products. Fuel for machinery and transportation are the largest energy inputs in U.S. farms (USDA, 2013), meaning there is ample room for reduction in emission as vehicles and machines move toward electrification. While other aspects of the agricultural production process may rely on grid electricity, the grid supply makeup determines the environmental impact attributable to production.
Improving Energy Balance
When it comes to modern farming, it is not just about how much food we grow but also about how efficiently we use energy to produce it. In fact, a long-term study was conducted over 32 years in Germany and found a way for farmers to achieve a better energy balance in crop production.
https://ahdb.org.uk/carbon
But first, what is energy balance?
Think of it as a balance sheet. On one side, you have energy inputs, which are everything that goes into growing crops (fuel for tractors, electricity for irrigation, and energy used to manufacture fertilizers and pesticides). On the other side, you have energy outputs, which are the energy stored in the harvested crops (grains, potatoes, sugar beets, etc.). A good energy balance simply means that if there are more energy outputs than energy inputs, it will make farming both efficient and sustainable.
Research findings
a) High inputs can deliver higher yields:
- Pro: crops like winter wheat showed an 86% (Hülsbergen et al., 2001) improvement in net energy output over the years.
- Con: Requires careful energy management to avoid waste and environmental harm
b) Efficiency has indeed improved over time:
The energy needed to produce nitrogen-based fertilizers (the biggest inputs in farming) has decreased over time because of technological advancements, which makes farming methods much more energy efficient.
c) The right balance formula:
The best results came from a moderate use of both organic and mineral fertilizers. This approach has proven to maximize energy output (more harvest) while minimizing energy use, making this farming method more efficient and sustainable.
https://emeraldharvest.co/organic-vs-inorganic-fertilizer/
BASF Agricultural Solutions
https://agriculture.basf.ca/content/dam/cxm/agriculture/canada/english/agriculture/east/homepage/ECPG_ENG_Carousel_3417x1195.jpgMany firms involved in agriculture are making efforts to provide solutions to improve energy balance and make agricultural practices more sustainable. In an interview (BASF Agricultural Solutions, 2020), Vincent Gros, President of BASF Agricultural Solutions, summarizes the organization’s approach as “Right balance. Better yield.” This does not only mean finding a right energy balance in agriculture, but also being able to find balances between “productivity on one hand, and environment and climate protection on the other hand.” He describes some of the innovations BASF hopes will help make farming inputs more sustainable. “With our existing and future new nitrification inhibitors we will drastically reduce fertilizer utilization and greenhouse gas emissions while improving farmers’ profitability.” He also describes new technologies that will allow farmers to spray herbicides in targeted ways.
Innovations like these will help reduce waste of agricultural inputs, thus reducing agriculture’s direct and indirect energy needs; all while helping farmers run productive and profitable farms. As the world’s food demands increase, new technologies will be needed to help sustainably scale food production while reducing energy demands in developed and developing countries alike.
Authors: Thu Thao Hoang & Benjamin Herfray
Date: 22/11/2024
References:
Beckman, J., Borchers, A., & Jones, C.A. (2013). Agriculture’s Supply and Demand for Energy and Energy Products. EIB-112, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
BASF Agricultural Solutions (2020, Nov 16). Interview - Right Balance, Better Yield - BASF Sustainability Targets in Agriculture 2030. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=s4F6cWvon44
Friendly Power (2020, June 9). Agriculture. https://esource.bizenergyadvisor.com/article/agriculture
Economic Research Service (2015, 12 Feb). Farms spend more on indirect energy inputs like fertilizer than direct energy inputs like fuel. U.S. Department of Agriculture. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data- products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail/?chartId=77995#
Hülsbergen, K., Feil, B., Biermann, S., Rathke, G., Kalk, W., & Diepenbrock, W. (2001). A method of energy balancing in crop production and its application in a long-term fertilizer trial. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment, 86(3), 303–321. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0167-8809(00)00286-3
Pimentel, D. (2009). Energy inputs in food crop production in developing and developed nations. Energies, 2(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.3390/en20100001
Sharafi, S., Kazemi, A., & Amiri, Z. (2023). Estimating energy consumption and GHG emissions in crop production: A machine learning approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 408, 137242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.137242
Small Farm Canada (2023, June 22). Fertilizers Used in Farming. https://www.smallfarmcanada.ca/resources/soil/fertilizers-used-in-farming/
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