Economic and Energy Efficiency of Agriculture in Poland Compared to Other European Union Countries

Abstract

<jats:p>Modern agriculture is dependent on external energy sources. Non-renewable energy sources play a dominant role, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and, as a consequence, to environmental degradation. Therefore, it becomes obvious to strive to improve energy efficiency and change the structure of its sources. One of the main research goals was to determine the economic and energy efficiency of agriculture in EU countries and assess its energy consumption by analysing energy consumption per employee or 1 ha of utilized agricultural area. The work analyses changes in energy consumption in agriculture of the European Union and its members. Eurostat data was used for the analysis.</jats:p>

Economic and Environmental Aspects of Agriculture in the EU Countries

“…Labor productivity, land productivity, energy productivity and greenhouse gas emission efficiency of agriculture were calculated. Energy productivity in agriculture was calculated as [98]:…”

“…In order to evaluate and compare economic sectors including agriculture in various countries, traditional indicators are often used, i.e., labour productivity or land productivity [7,20,105] (Table 3). Attention is also more and more often paid to the efficiency of energy use [98,106]. EU agriculture is characterised by substantial variation in labour productivity and land productivity.…”