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Does this account for the massive amount of energy we 'cheat' out of natural gas derived fertilizer? If we eliminate natural gas, the energy costs of fertilizer
by AngryData 7y ago
Does this account for the massive amount of energy we 'cheat' out of natural gas derived fertilizer? If we eliminate natural gas, the energy costs of fertilizer production go up near 10 times what it is now.
- pfdietz 7y agoYes, it includes the energy used in making fertilizer. It also includes all the fuel used on farms. Here's a link for the numbers from 2014. https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2017/januaryfebruary/energy-consumption-and-production-in-agriculture/ https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2017/januaryfebruary/en... In that year, ag used 1.74% of US energy consumption. 29% of that was for fertilizer. As I said, the absolute amount of energy used in farming is really rather small, even for "energy intensive" agriculture. That's because the ag sector is such a small part of the US economy (< 1% of GDP).