The direct and indirect use of fossil fuels and electricity in USA agriculture, 1910–1990

Cleveland, Cutler J.

doi:10.1016/0167-8809(95)00615-y

Cited by 88 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Access to cheap and plentiful fossil energy was an important reason for improved standards of living and increased food production in these years (Cleveland, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A model for fossil energy use in Danish agriculture used to compare organic and conventional farming

Dalgaard¹,

Halberg²,

Porter³

2001

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

370

202

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Knowledge about fossil energy use in agricultural systems is needed, because it can improve the understanding of how to reduce the unsustainable use of limited energy resources and the following greenhouse gas emissions. This study describes and validates a model to assess fossil energy use in Danish agriculture; gives an example of how the model can be used to compare organic and conventional farming; and discusses the implications and potentials of using the model to simulate energy use in scenarios of agricultural production. The model is a development of an existing model, which was too coarse to predict measured energy use on Danish farms. The model was validated at the field operational, the crop type, and the national level, and can supplement the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change manual to quantify fossil energy use and subsequent carbon dioxide emissions from agriculture. The model can be used to model energy use as one indicator in a multi-criteria evaluation of sustainability, also including other agroecological and socio-economic indicators.As an example, energy use for eight conventional and organic crop types on loamy, sandy, and irrigated sandy soil was compared. The energy use was generally lower in the organic than in the conventional system, but yields were also lower. Consequently, conventional crop production had the highest energy production, whereas organic crop production had the highest energy efficiency. Generally, grain cereals such as wheat have a lower energy use per area than roughage crops such as beets. However, because of higher roughage crop yields per area, energy use per feed unit was higher in the roughage crops. Energy use for both conventional cattle and pig production was found to be higher than that for organic production. With respect to fossil energy use per produced livestock unit, agro-ecosystems producing pigs were in both cases less energy effective than those producing cattle.Fossil energy use for three scenarios of conversion to organic farming with increasing fodder import was compared to current conventional farming in Denmark. The scenario with the highest fodder import showed the highest energy use per livestock unit produced. In all scenarios, the energy use per unit produced was lower than in the present situation. However, the total Danish crop production was also lower.In conclusion, the model can be used to simulate scenarios, which can add new information to the discussion of future, sustainable agricultural production.

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“…Access to cheap and plentiful fossil energy was an important reason for improved standards of living and increased food production in these years (Cleveland, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A model for fossil energy use in Danish agriculture used to compare organic and conventional farming

Dalgaard¹,

Halberg²,

Porter³

2001

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

370

202

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…To some extent, the economic crisis forced more efficient practices. Although direct energy (electricity or fossil fuel) was not important, embodied energy shot up, as it has done in other countries in the same period (Cleveland 1995;. Coffee is thus highly dependent on fossil fuels due to embodied energy consumption.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Scholars have used a variety of methods, from traditional energy balances (Leach 1976) to energy return on investment (EROI) (Tello et al 2016) and life cycle assessment (LCA) (Haas et al 2000) to analyze energy flows in farming. One aim, from the perspective of environmental and energy sustainability, has been to compare the energy efficiency of traditional and modern systems (Cleveland 1995; or organic vs. conventional management (e.g., Smith et al 2015). Another approach, from the social sciences and humanities, uses energy flows to study the material foundations and dynamics by which traditional societies were sustained, endeavoring to overcome perspectives that focus exclusively on cultural or monetary concerns.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy flows in the coffee plantations of Costa Rica: from traditional to modern systems (1935–2010)

Infante-Amate

Picado

2017

Reg Environ Change

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This article addresses energy flows in the coffee agro-ecosystems of Costa Rica within the context of the socio-ecological transition, between 1935 and 2010, accounting for the shift from traditional to modern tropical agriculture. Estimating indicators of energy efficiency in crop management makes it possible to analyze the changing productive rationality of growers by studying end uses of all biomass appropriated from coffee agro-ecosystems. Coffee land and labor productivity, as expected, multiplied (by factors of 2.01 and 1.56, respectively). However, considering total biomass produced in coffee agro-ecosystems, productivity did not display such a significant increase. In contrast, all other energy efficiency indicators declined. Final energy return on investment (FEROI) fell from 1.02 in 1935 to 0.51 in 2005. External final EROI fell even farther, from 18.90 down to 1.86. The socio-ecological transition brought about the loss of multifunctionality in the final use of products derived from coffee agroecosystems, as new products replaced traditional ones.Keywords Energy return on investment . Coffee . Agroforestry . Energy efficiency . Socio-ecological transition IntroductionThe study of energy flows in farming, understood in a broad sense, represents an effective and versatile way to describe the major changes that have taken place in agrarian systems during the transition from traditional to modern management approaches, as well as to analyze the environmental problems generated in this process. Scholars have used a variety of methods, from traditional energy balances (Leach 1976) to energy return on investment (EROI) (Tello et al. 2016) and life cycle assessment (LCA) (Haas et al. 2000) to analyze energy flows in farming. One aim, from the perspective of environmental and energy sustainability, has been to compare the energy efficiency of traditional and modern systems (Cleveland 1995; or organic vs. conventional management (e.g., Smith et al. 2015). Another approach, from the social sciences and humanities, uses energy flows to study the material foundations and dynamics by which traditional societies were sustained, endeavoring to overcome perspectives that focus exclusively on cultural or monetary concerns. Such studies have assessed hunter-gatherer societies (Rappaport 1969), the collapse of civilizations (Tainter 1990), and the subsistence of peasant farming societies (Infante-Amate 2014).This article evaluates energy flows in Costa Rica's coffee agro-ecosystems within the context of the socio-ecological transition (SET) and the BGreen Revolution,^between 1935 and 2010, spanning both of the aforementioned perspectives within a tropical agricultural system. It estimates indicators about the energy processes of coffee production systems, evaluating its evolving energy efficiency. There is some published research about energy balances in coffee production in Nicaragua (Cuadra and Rydberg 2006), Brazil (Giannetti et al. 2011a, b;Turco et al. 2012;Flauzino et al. 2014;Muner et al. 2015), and Costa ...

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“…The energy cost of agricultural output increased steadily from 1910 through the late 1970's as the direct and indirect use of fossil fuels replaced labor and draft animals (Cleveland, 1991;Cleveland, 1995aCleveland, , 1995b. Since the second energy price shock energy costs have declined due to reduction in the rate of energy use per hectare, a reduction in the number of harvested hectares, and larger farms.…”

Section: Empirical Results Of the Biophysical Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indicators of natural resource scarcity: review, synthesis, and application to US agriculture

Cleveland

Stern

1998

Theory and Implementation of Economic Models for Sustainable Development

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The direct and indirect use of fossil fuels and electricity in USA agriculture, 1910–1990

Cited by 88 publications

References 13 publications

A model for fossil energy use in Danish agriculture used to compare organic and conventional farming

A model for fossil energy use in Danish agriculture used to compare organic and conventional farming

Energy flows in the coffee plantations of Costa Rica: from traditional to modern systems (1935–2010)

Indicators of natural resource scarcity: review, synthesis, and application to US agriculture

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