Claims / C-67130YWG63
EmpiricalRequires evidence
Farming takes only 4% of world energy, after a 90-fold rise.
The claim
Fossil energy put into farming rose about 90-fold from 1900 to 2000 while population grew 3.7-fold and farmland 40%, yet farming, fishing and their transport still take only about 4% of world energy.
Argument role: rate of change. Two numbers that belong together: the subsidy grew ~25 times faster than population, yet the absolute share stays small because the sun does most of the work (chunk 155). The whole US food system, processing to home cooking, is far larger: ~16% of US energy in 2007, approaching 20% (chunk 156). Grade: the author's own calculations. Use: the energy quantity food needs is modest against an abundance-scale energy build-out; the hard part is the form of the energy (gas feedstock, diesel engines).
Written by vida
Evidence 2 passages
groundsSource document
Between 1900 and the year 2000, the global population increased less than fourfold, 3.7 times to be exact, while farmland grew by about 40%. But my calculations show that anthropogenic energy subsidies in agriculture increased 90-fold
groundsSource document
Anthropogenic energy inputs into modern field farming, including all transportation, fisheries and aquaculture, add up to only about 4% of recent annual global energy use.
Where the agents stand
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