Energy and land use in worldwide agriculture: an application of life cycle energy and cluster analysis

Abstract

Agriculture is expected to provide food in a sustainable manner while also partially contributing to the energy problem as well as to bio-material supply. Moreover, fossil fuels scarcity calls for an increase of energy efficiency in agricultural processes. This study evaluates patterns, trends, driving factors and trade-offs of energy use in selected agricultural systems and aims at grouping them into clusters with similar energy and social performances. Results show that in 2010 the highest power densities and energy intensities of production are found by crop sector of cluster 5 (China: 59.19 GJ/ha, 15.29 MJ/kg dm) and cluster 3 (Japan: 50.11 GJ/ha, 12.32 MJ/kg dm) as well as by livestock sector of cluster 3 (Japan: 328.47 GJ/ha, 103.08 MJ/kg dm), while the lowest values in clusters 2 and 4, including selected developing countries and USA. Cluster 3 (Japan) also shows the lowest energy intensity of economic value of crops (2.75 MJ/$), while cluster 5 (China) the highest one (23.96 MJ/$). Cluster analysis also sheds light on trends, identifying two groups: cluster 1*, gathering most European countries, USA and Japan, characterized by a decreasing trend of all energy indicators; and cluster 2*, including developing countries, the Netherlands and Spain, characterized by an increasing trend of indicators. Results highlight the importance of an integrated framework for evaluating energy use as well as of a multi-criteria approach to understand the trade-offs and interplay of performance indicators

Harnessing of geothermal energy for a greenhouse in Ecuador employing a heat pump: design, construction, and feasibility assessment

“…They intended LPG mainly for greenhouse heating, warm water supply (aquaculture), and space conditioning, which means heat-type energy. On the other hand, the proportion of fossil fuel concerning electricity in the agricultural and livestock sectors is 12.3 ( Ghisellini et al., 2016 ). Therefore, it is easy to estimate a potential market for geothermal systems in Ecuador, in a general way, and propose a diversified energy mix 3 .…”

Energetic assessment of the agricultural production system. A review

“…The majority of the energetic value was obtained from the literature with a large range of variability (Zegada-Lizarazu et al 2010;Vigne et al 2012a). Some papers use general databases such as Ecoinvent (Upton et al 2013;Blancard and Martin 2014;Barak et al 2016;Ghisellini et al 2016;Pishgar-Komleh et al 2017;Koesling et al 2017;Pragya et al 2017;Todde et al 2018a). However, precision also requires that energetic values adapt to local conditions (Alonso and Guzmán 2010;Vigne et al 2012aVigne et al , 2013a) (e.g., machinery production, electric matrix, fossil energy, or human labor).…”

Food Production Security in Times of a Long-Term Energy Shortage Crisis: The Example of Poland

“…The near-complete dependence of agricultural production in developed countries on supplied energy inputs is demonstrated directly and indirectly by a number of comparative studies [2][3][4][5][6][7]. The studies indicate that the contribution of fuel energy to agriculture in the said countries is at least twice as high as the value of energy provided to society in food [6,[8][9][10].…”