"30% of Spanish primary energy consumption is spent on food"

The analysis of the life cycle of the Spanish agro-food sector in energy terms allows to detect its inefficiencies but also to indicate where to act to bet on a more sustainable system, according to research carried out at the University Pablo Olavide from Sevilla.

The actions linked to the agro-food model, from production to households’ consumption, spend 30% of primary energy in Spain, a “high” percentage that shows that it is “unsustainable”, according to the researcher Manuel González de Molina.

This data is the result of a study that shows that “everything related to food production has a huge impact on the environment and the economy”, given its high energy costs.

The life cycle analysis carried out by Prof. González de Molina allows us to calculate the amount of energy that is invested in each process, as well as to detect the “inefficiencies of the system” to know where the problems are in Spain: “transport, import, inputs and intensive livestock”.

For the researcher, transport is the process that most primary energy consumes, “25.8% of total consumption”, because in Spain “food travels a lot”.

Inputs’ manufacture (fertilizers, plant protection products, machinery, feed, seeds) consumes 24% of all primary energy, highlighting feed manufacture that consumes almost half of that figure.

Source: efeagro.com / www.agroberichtenbuitenland.nl