Co-Authored By:
Asked by: Enio Bellod
business and finance environmental services industryHow much energy is used in agriculture?
In 2016, the agricultural sector consumed 1,872 trillion Btu of energy, accounting for about 1.9 percent of total U.S. primary energy consumption.
Keeping this in consideration, how is energy used in agriculture?
Agriculture requires energy as an important input to production. Agriculture uses energy directly as fuel or electricity to operate machinery and equipment, to heat or cool buildings, and for lighting on the farm, and indirectly in the fertilizers and chemicals produced off the farm.
| Supply sources | Percent of source |
|---|---|
| Petroleum 36.2% | 72% Transportation 23% Industrial 5% Residential and commercial 1% Electric power |
| Natural gas 28.0% | 3% Transportation 35% Industrial 28% Residential and commercial 34% Electric power |
| Coal 13.9% | 9% Industrial <1% Residential and commercial 91% Electric power |
Beside this, what is the main source of energy used for cultivation and harvesting of subsistence agriculture?
Modern agriculture requires an energy input at all stages of agricultural production such as direct use of energy in farm machinery, water management, irrigation, cultivation and harvesting. Post-harvest energy use includes energy for food processing, storage and in transport to markets.
Of the roughly 2,000 liters of oil required per year to feed each American (Pimentel 459), only one-fifth of that energy is actually used for agriculture, with the rest going toward transport, processing, packaging, marketing, and food preparation and storage (Brown 35).