State of the Art on Energy Efficiency in Agriculture, Country data on energy consumption in different agroproduction sectors in the European countries

Energy efficiency is the goal of efforts to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. The general term "energy efficiency", when applied to agriculture, reflects changes in technology, governmental and EC policies – including the Common Agricultural Policy, climate change on a broad scale and local weather patterns, and farming management practices. There is not a single measure to describe, ensure, or improve energy efficiency. Instead, in the energy balance for a given production process, a variety of indicators may serve and support energy efficiency analysis. The results of this study are based on the specific input of primary energy per cultivation area (GJ ha-1) and on the specific input of primary energy per ton of agricultural product (GJ t-1). All the measures that are suitable to reduce the specific energy input, will improve energy efficiency (the energy efficiency measures). Improving energy efficiency of agricultural production contributes directly to the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, particularly carbon dioxide.