Energy in Agriculture in Brazil

Abstract

Historically, agriculture has been a large contributor to the global green house gas emissions due to the use of fossil fuel-powered machinery during the production cycle. In recent years, there has been a pressing need to replace fossil fuel consumption given the increasing threats associated with climate change. This paper presents a review of the latest studies published in the field of energy in the agricultural sector, with a specific focus on Brazil. Based on the research trends observed over the last few years (2012–2020), findings tend to point towards improving current practices rather than studying alternatives to fossil fuel consumption, with recent publications (2020–2021) continuing this trend, primarily via market- and indicator-based studies. As reported in the reviewed literature, tobacco production has the largest energy demand, while wheat, sugarcane, and eucalyptus production have the greatest ethanol production potential. Both rapeseed and jatropha production share greater biodiesel production potential than soybean. Of the 14 crops considered in this study, four had a negative energy surplus: tobacco, orange, rice, and cotton.