Global agriculture as an energy transfer system and the energy yield of world agriculture 1961–2013

Abstract

The global agricultural system is an energy transfer system converting solar radiation to stored chemical energy in the biosphere through photosynthesis and animal metabolism. Stored energy in the agricultural system is principally in the form of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and oils that humanity appropriates for food, fiber, and fuel. The total annual production of global agriculture was tabulated using data from the Food and Agriculture Organization from 1961 to 2013. Annual agricultural production for each agricultural item (T y 21) was converted to energy yield (kJ y 21 ) utilizing published proximate analyses (% moisture, % protein, % carbohydrate, % fat/lipid, and % ash). Global agricultural energy yield grew linearly over the 1961-2002 interval. From 2002 onward, global agricultural energy yield also grew linearly, but at a rate 2 times the 1961-2002 rate. Overall, agricultural energy yield more than tripled from 1961 to 2013. Unsurprisingly, energy output of global crops dominated, averaging 85.5 6 0.4% of total energy output. Livestock and poultry production averaged 13.6 6 0.4% of annual agricultural energy output, while world fisheries and aquaculture averaged 0.8 6 0.1% of global energy output. From 1961 to 2013, the feeding potential of global agricultural energy yield exceeded the human metabolic energy requirement by an average multiple of 2.1 6 0.18. Thus, agricultural production is more than sufficient to feed "The Global Mouth" into the future, and feeding world population is not a production problem per se. Instead, the inability of global agriculture to meet worldwide food requirements results from systemic energy losses associated with significant global food waste, diversion of food energy as feed to livestock and poultry, and appropriation of primary agricultural output for biofuels synthesis.

Sustainability Assessment of Family Agricultural Properties: The Importance of Homeopathy

“…to be unsustainable. Thus, it is necessary to propose technologies that harmonize sustainable management in agrosystems and that replace the indiscriminate use of agrochemicals [4]. In this sense, the use of homeopathic preparations in agriculture has shown increasingly promising results; however, homeopathic preparations have a rationality that is different from those technologies that only seek to maximize production factors [19,20].…”

“…The intensification of food production after the "Green Revolution" has been based on the premise of productive maximization, with natural resources being infinite and without considering their recovery rate [4]. Thus, in recent decades, it has become evident that the intensification of food production systems, due to the increasing adoption of industrial inputs, is unsustainable from the point of view of the exhaustion of nonrenewable resources [5].…”

“…On the other hand, overcoming the problems caused by the current intensified production model requires seeking solutions with technologies and approaches that differ from those used for the development of current agricultural models, which are considered to be unsustainable. Thus, it is necessary to propose technologies that harmonize sustainable management in agrosystems and that replace the indiscriminate use of agrochemicals [4]. In this sense, the use of homeopathic preparations in agriculture has shown increasingly promising results; however, homeopathic preparations have a rationality that is different from those technologies that only seek to maximize production factors [19,20].…”

Lead(II) sulfide micro‐crystals doped graphene nanosheets dispersed thermoplastic and multifunctional poly(benzoxazines) cured epoxy resin nanocomposites for medium temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell applications

“…People are forced to deforest due to the rapidly growing population and burgeoning demands for food, shelter, fuel, and electricity, 1,2 resulting in massive amounts of greenhouse gases being emitted. On the other hand, population growth will require a significant amount of energy in the coming years.…”

SnO2 Nanoparticle Assisted Enhanced Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Performance of Sulfuric Acid-Doped Porous Poly (Triphenylpyridine–Aliphatic Ethers)

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