Agroecosystem energy transitions in the old and new worlds: trajectories and determinants at the regional scale.

ABSTRACT: Energy efficiency in biomass production is a major challenge for a future transition to sustainable food and energy provision. This study uses methodologically consistent data on agroecosystem energy flows and different metrics of energetic efficiency from seven regional case studies in North America (USA and Canada) and Europe (Spain and Austria) to investigate energy transitions in Western agroecosystems from the late nineteenth to the late twentieth centuries. We quantify indicators such as external final energy return on investment (EFEROI, i.e., final produce per unit of external energy input), internal final EROI (IFEROI, final produce per unit of biomass reused locally), and final EROI (FEROI, final produce per unit of total inputs consumed). The transition is characterized by incre

SUBMITTER: Gingrich S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6560785 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature