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.

In the period from 1992 to 2024 in Slovenia, the consumption of gas oil in agriculture was the highest in the year 1992. This year was taken as a starting year. Looking at the last observed year, fuel consumption in 2024 was 14.6 % lower than in 1992. Gas oil consumption has not changed significantly in the last ten years and amounts to around 2,400 TJ/year.

Processes that reduce fuel consumption per hectare (e.g. direct sowing, conservation tillage) are spreading relatively slowly; they are used by larger farms. In addition, mechanical processes are increasingly used to protect against weeds or maintain row spacing under fruit or grapevine trunks, which requires a greater number of passes and thus greater fuel consumption. Processes that were previously manual are also being mechanized (e.g. grape harvester).

Electricity consumption fluctuates in the period 2013 to 2024, and electricity consumption in cold stores (warehouses) is affected by the amount of fruit produced. Indirect energy consumption in agriculture was determined by the energy required to produce mineral fertilizers. In 2024 the consumption of indirect energy per hectare of utilized agricultural area was lower by 23,8% compared to the starting year of 1992. The highest indirect energy consumption per hectare of utilized agricultural area was in 1998. 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 per hectare of utilized agricultural area in 2023 was in the Netherlands due to a large share of greenhouses.