Estimating energy flows in the long run: Agriculture in the United States, 1800–2020

Robert Suits and Elisabeth Moyer

Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History, 2024, vol. 57, issue 4, 242-251

Abstract: This article explores the methods of a prior larger research project to understand flows in the US energy economy, quantifying energy use across American history (1800–2020). As a case study, it uses a subset of this data—agricultural energy use—to examine the methods, sources, and problems around estimating the production and consumption of energy at a national level. By combining statistical data with primary sources (like government and private studies on livestock feed demands), we produce a database that sums all energy used both on-field and in the processing and production of food more generally—and offer several counterintuitive conclusions. Per-capita agricultural energy use actually fell between 1800 and 2020. During this time period, the overall per-capita energy expenditure on food (in processing and cooking) remained fairly steady. We conclude the article by noting various uses for the data in reframing long-term agricultural trends and their environmental impacts. Energy flows are a fundamental component of social metabolism research. What this paper adds to this work is an unusual American case, one in which per capita on-field energy use declined.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1080/01615440.2024.2375714

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