Energy in farming

Irrigation pumps, fertiliser and draught power: how energy grows food.

Conversion and use · Industry, buildings and farms · No. 120

• Conversion and use

India's 20 million farm pump sets drink about 18% of the nation's electricity, and most waste three-quarters of it.

Chart: Illustration: Energy in farming

Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Farming is a solar business: crops turn sunlight into food, and farmers add diesel, electricity and the natural gas locked inside fertiliser to boost yields. Just under 70% of world ammonia becomes fertiliser.

Three things to know

1. Crops can capture at most about 4.6% (wheat, rice) or 6% (maize, sugarcane) of sunlight as food energy.
2. On average only about 7% of feed calories become food: beef about 3%, poultry 13%, eggs and dairy 17%.
3. Diesel supplies 74% of the energy used for irrigation pumping worldwide, mostly where grids are absent.

The journey

1. 1 Sun and fuelSunlight, diesel, grid power, natural gas
2. 2 FertiliserGas becomes ammonia, then urea
3. 3 Pumps, tractorsLift water, plough, sow and harvest
4. 4 PhotosynthesisCrops store a few per cent of sunlight
5. 5 FoodGrain, milk, meat and eggs

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