Assessing the energy trap of industrial agriculture in North America and Europe: 82 balances from 1830 to 2012.

ABSTRACT: Early energy analyses of agriculture revealed that behind higher labor and land productivity of industrial farming, there was a decrease in energy returns on energy (EROI) invested, in comparison to more traditional organic agricultural systems. Studies on recent trends show that efficiency gains in production and use of inputs have again somewhat improved energy returns. However, most of these agricultural energy studies have focused only on external inputs at the crop level, concealing the important role of internal biomass flows that livestock and forestry recirculate within agroecosystems. Here, we synthesize the results of 82 farm systems in North America and Europe from 1830 to 2012 that for the first time show the changing energy profiles of agroecosystems, including livestock and f

SUBMITTER: Tello E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10632262 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature