[KM09] Energy use in agriculture
Key message
In Slovenia, the majority of energy consumption in agriculture is gas oil used as a propellant for agricultural machinery (55.2 %), followed by energy for the production of mineral nitrogen fertilizers (38.0 %) and electric energy (4.5 %). Compared to the average of 28 European countries, in 2016 Slovenia has 9.5% more direct energy consumption per hectare of utilized agricultural area and 13.5 % less indirect energy use in agriculture.
Definition
In agriculture, energy use is expressed by direct use of gas oil and electric energy and by indirect use for the production of mineral fertilizers. The consumption of energy per hectare of utilised agricultural area is also presented and compared with other European countries.
Charts
AIS, 2022; SORS, 2022
| Gas oil[TJ/year] | Electric energy[TJ/year] | Nitrogenous fertilizers[TJ/year] | Phosphate fertilizers[TJ/year] | Gas oil[%] | Electric energy[%] | Nitrogenous fertilizers[%] | Phosphate fertilizers[%] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy use | 2461.08 | 198.57 | 1695.25 | 103.20 | 55.20 | 4.45 | 38.03 | 2.31 |
AIS, 2022; SORS, 2022
| Gas oil[TJ/year] | |
|---|---|
| 1992 | 2853.15 |
| 1993 | 2837.18 |
| 1994 | 2759.29 |
| 1995 | 2694.51 |
| 1996 | 2635.53 |
| 1997 | 2536.97 |
| 1998 | 2519.76 |
| 1999 | 2559.14 |
| 2000 | 2612.36 |
| 2001 | 2615.77 |
| 2002 | 2594.41 |
| 2003 | 2616.21 |
| 2004 | 2517.71 |
| 2005 | 2611.33 |
| 2006 | 2516.68 |
| 2007 | 2558.50 |
| 2008 | 2527.49 |
| 2009 | 2404.67 |
| 2010 | 2477.34 |
| 2011 | 2351.80 |
| 2012 | 2461.94 |
| 2013 | 2458.01 |
| 2014 | 2475.11 |
| 2015 | 2447.61 |
| 2016 | 2451.77 |
| 2017 | 2470.98 |
| 2018 | 2449.84 |
| 2019 | 2462.81 |
| 2020 | 2484.57 |
| 2021 | 2461.08 |
AIS, 2022; SORS, 2022
| Electric energy[TJ/year] | |
|---|---|
| 2013 | 191.06 |
| 2014 | 199.35 |
| 2015 | 194.24 |
| 2016 | 191.16 |
| 2017 | 193.69 |
| 2018 | 193.30 |
| 2019 | 201.05 |
| 2020 | 218.68 |
| 2021 | 198.57 |
AIS, 2022; SORS, 2022
| Nitrogenous fertilizers[GJ/ha] | Phosphate fertilizers[GJ/ha] | Total[GJ/ha] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 4.07 | 0.39 | 4.47 |
| 1993 | 3.51 | 0.44 | 3.95 |
| 1994 | 3.67 | 0.50 | 4.17 |
| 1995 | 3.57 | 0.47 | 4.04 |
| 1996 | 3.55 | 0.47 | 4.01 |
| 1997 | 4.00 | 0.50 | 4.50 |
| 1998 | 4.12 | 0.54 | 4.67 |
| 1999 | 4.01 | 0.56 | 4.57 |
| 2000 | 3.90 | 0.51 | 4.41 |
| 2001 | 3.97 | 0.46 | 4.43 |
| 2002 | 3.85 | 0.44 | 4.28 |
| 2003 | 3.94 | 0.43 | 4.36 |
| 2004 | 3.59 | 0.42 | 4.01 |
| 2005 | 3.34 | 0.37 | 3.71 |
| 2006 | 3.60 | 0.37 | 3.97 |
| 2007 | 3.46 | 0.36 | 3.82 |
| 2008 | 2.96 | 0.34 | 3.30 |
| 2009 | 3.50 | 0.23 | 3.73 |
| 2010 | 3.31 | 0.29 | 3.60 |
| 2011 | 3.44 | 0.28 | 3.72 |
| 2012 | 3.19 | 0.26 | 3.45 |
| 2013 | 3.31 | 0.26 | 3.57 |
| 2014 | 3.45 | 0.27 | 3.72 |
| 2015 | 3.45 | 0.28 | 3.73 |
| 2016 | 3.30 | 0.27 | 3.57 |
| 2017 | 3.27 | 0.27 | 3.54 |
| 2018 | 3.33 | 0.27 | 3.60 |
| 2019 | 3.40 | 0.24 | 3.64 |
| 2020 | 3.33 | 0.25 | 3.57 |
| 2021 | 3.54 | 0.22 | 3.75 |
Eurostat, 2019; calculations by AIS
| Direct energy use[GJ/ha] | Indirect energy use[GJ/ha] | |
|---|---|---|
| EU–28 | 5.75 | 3.87 |
| Belgium | 23.79 | 6.75 |
| Bulgaria | 1.73 | 4.88 |
| Czechia | 7.76 | 6.94 |
| Denmark | 10.08 | 4.46 |
| Germany | 0 | 6.06 |
| Estonia | 5.35 | 2.18 |
| Ireland | 1.78 | 4.15 |
| Greece | 2.49 | 2.43 |
| Spain | 4.34 | 2.57 |
| France | 5.76 | 4.74 |
| Croatia | 5.52 | 2.74 |
| Italy | 8.81 | 2.93 |
| Cyprus | 16.20 | 4.49 |
| Latvia | 3.63 | 2.44 |
| Lithuania | 1.49 | 3.29 |
| Luxembourg | 9.26 | 6.17 |
| Hungary | 5.80 | 4.44 |
| Malta | 19.06 | 3.04 |
| Netherlands | 85.02 | 7.02 |
| Austria | 8.13 | 2.96 |
| Poland | 10.28 | 4.35 |
| Portugal | 4.07 | 1.77 |
| Romania | 1.52 | 1.66 |
| Slovenia | 6.29 | 3.34 |
| Slovakia | 3.30 | 3.97 |
| Finland | 13.75 | 3.66 |
| Sweden | 4.58 | 3.65 |
| United Kingdom | 2.71 | 3.65 |
Goals
- Reduction of total greenhouse gas emissions by 36%, of which 20% in the non-ETS sector (which is 5 percentage points above Slovenia's accepted commitment);
- at least a 35% improvement in energy efficiency, which is higher than the target adopted at the EU level (32.5%);
- at least 27% of renewable energy sources, where due to relevant national circumstances, primarily environmental restrictions, Slovenia had to agree to a lower target than the target at EU level (32%) with an effort to increase the ambition in the next NEPN update (2023/ 2024),
- 3% of investment in research and development, of which 1% is public funds.
Comment
In the period from 1992 to 2021 in Slovenia, the consumption of gas oil in agriculture was the highest in the year 1992. This year was taken as a base year. Looking at the last observed year, fuel consumption in 2021 was 13.7 % lower than in 1992.
Indirect energy consumption in agriculture was determined by the energy required for the production of mineral fertilizers. We obtained data for the period from 1992 to 2021. The highest total energy consumption was established for the base year 1992. Otherwise, from this year onwards, a downward trend can be observed. Thus, the indirect energy consumption for 2021 was down by 27.6 % compared to 1992. However, if we look at the consumption of indirect energy per hectare of utilised agricultural area, in 2021 the consumption of indirect energy was lower by 16.1% compared to the base year of 1992. Since we do not produce mineral fertilizers in Slovenia, this energy does not affect the national energy balance, but it does indirectly burden the environment with carbon dioxide.
The highest direct energy consumption in 2016 was in the Netherlands due to a large share of greenhouses, while the Slovenian consumption was 9.5% higher compared to the European average. In the case of indirect energy consumption in agriculture, in Slovenia it was 13.5% lower compared to the European average of 28 countries.