Energy productivity of technological agriculture-lessons from the transition of Swedish agriculture

In accordance with the bulk of published studies it seems widely accepted that energy productivity in modern intensive agriculture is decreasing and that primary emphasis should be on decreasing the use of fossil energy. A comprehensive comparison of three development stages in the transition of conventional Swedish agriculture (from 1956 to 1993) indicates that such conclusions should be questioned. This study of Swedish agriculture suggests that the potential of conventional agriculture to bind solar energy creates a much larger effect on energy flows than savings on inputs. It is also suggested that earlier studies of energy in agriculture have not only taken an inappropriate account of technological development but also miscalculated the links between used technology and the possibilities of energy crops. The fact that high input agriculture requires much less land per unit of output is taken as a basis for using the opportunity cost principles of economics to re-evaluate the energy and environmental performance of high input agriculture. The present study illustrates how both energy productivity and potentials for a better consideration of important environmental factors of a technological agriculture may be underestimated. The biggest challenge seems to be to aim for a better understanding of further developments of a technological agriculture for food production considering the environment, the use of 'surplus' land for energy crops and schemes for increased biodiversity. The results of this study should mainly be relevant for parts of agriculture in Europe and North America. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.