The Rise and Stall of World Electricity Efficiency:1900-2017, Results and Implication for the Renewables Transition

Since 1800, there have been enormous changes in mechanical technologies farmers use and in the relative contributions of human and animal muscles and machines to farm work. We develop a database from 1800 to 2012 of on-farm physical work in world agriculture from muscles and machines. We do so to analyze how on-farm physical work has contributed to changes in land and human labor productivities. We find two distinct periods. First, from 1800 to around 1950, land productivity (measured as kcal food supply per hectare of cropland) was relatively stagnant at about 1.7 million kcal/ha, in part due to a scarcity of on-farm physical work. During this period, physical work was scarce because most of on-farm physical work (approximately 80% in 1950) was being powered by low power, low energy efficiency muscle work provided by humans and draft animals. From 1950 to 2012, land productivity nearly tripled as more machine-based work inputs became available. The additional machine-based work inputs have contributed to the growth in land and labor productivities, as they have enabled farmers to control more physical work enabling more irrigation and agrochemical applications. However, the tripling of land productivity has required a near 4.5-fold increase in physical work per hectare, suggesting diminishing returns. Farmers accomplished this extra work with less final energy because they transitioned from low-efficiency muscle work to high-efficiency machines which drove farm-wide energy conversion efficiency up fourfold from 1950 to 2012. By 1990, machine conversion efficiencies started to plateau. Given diminishing returns and plateauing efficiencies, we predict that fuel and electricity usage on farms will increase to continue raising land productivity.

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The Contributions of Muscle and Machine Work to Land and Labor Productivity in World Agriculture Since 1800

Steenwyk

Heun

Brockway

et al. 2022

Biophys Econ Sust

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Challenges in Assessing Useful Exergy and Its Significance for Economic Development Studies: An Examination of Mozambique’s Economics Sectors, 1971–2014

Huo,

St. Aubyn,

Felício

et al. 2024

Exergy - Theoretical Background and Case Studies

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This chapter presents and analyses the outcomes derived from estimating useful exergy data associated with the final electricity usage in Mozambique’s productive sectors—encompassing industry, commerce, and services—covering Mozambique, from 1971 to 2014. At the time of carrying out the research, the availability of International Energy Agency (IEA) data relating to Mozambique was only from 1971 to 2014. The societal exergy analysis methodology used to estimate useful exergy involved first converting the final electricity use into its exergetic equivalent. Then, this exergy was categorized according to its specific end uses. Finally, the useful exergy was calculated by applying the appropriate efficiency rates for each usage category. The electricity consumption data, measured in GWh, was sourced from the IEA database. The findings indicate a significant increase in final electricity consumption starting in 2000. While there was a noticeable rise in useful exergy in the trade and services sector, the industry sector’s contribution remained dominant. The most significant contributions to total useful exergy were mechanical work in the industry sector, followed by high-temperature heat production. As useful exergy represents the effective portion of exergy reflecting energy usage outcomes, it emerges as a crucial concept for analyzing the link between energy consumption and economic growth.

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The Rise and Stall of World Electricity Efficiency:1900-2017, Results and Implication for the Renewables Transition

Cited by 2 publications

References 29 publications

The Contributions of Muscle and Machine Work to Land and Labor Productivity in World Agriculture Since 1800

The Contributions of Muscle and Machine Work to Land and Labor Productivity in World Agriculture Since 1800

Challenges in Assessing Useful Exergy and Its Significance for Economic Development Studies: An Examination of Mozambique’s Economics Sectors, 1971–2014

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