Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Institute of Energy and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland.
Nat Commun. 2021 Apr 19;12(1):2319. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22581-7.
The ongoing agrarian transition from small-holder farming to large-scale commercial agriculture is reshaping systems of production and human well-being in many regions. A fundamental part of this global transition is manifested in large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) by agribusinesses. Its energy implications, however, remain poorly understood. Here, we assess the multi-dimensional changes in fossil-fuel-based energy demand resulting from this agrarian transition. We focus on LSLAs by comparing two scenarios of low-input and high-input agricultural practices, exemplifying systems of production in place before and after the agrarian transition. A shift to high-input crop production requires industrial fertilizer application, mechanization of farming practices and irrigation, which increases by ~5 times fossil-fuel-based energy consumption compared to low-input agriculture. Given the high energy and carbon footprints of LSLAs and concerns over local energy access, our analysis highlights the need for an approach that prioritizes local resource access and incorporates energy-intensity analyses in land use governance.
从小农经营向大规模商业农业的持续农业转型正在重塑许多地区的生产系统和人类福祉。这种全球转型的一个基本部分表现为农业综合企业的大规模土地收购（LSLAs）。然而，其能源影响仍未得到充分理解。在这里，我们评估了农业转型导致的基于化石燃料的能源需求的多维变化。我们通过比较低投入和高投入农业实践的两种情景来关注 LSLAs，这两种情景代表了农业转型前后的生产系统。向高投入作物生产的转变需要工业化肥的应用、农业实践和灌溉的机械化，这使得基于化石燃料的能源消耗比低投入农业增加了约 5 倍。鉴于 LSLAs 的高能源和碳足迹以及对当地能源获取的关注，我们的分析强调了需要一种方法，优先考虑当地资源获取，并在土地利用治理中纳入能源强度分析。
