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A look at energy consumption worldwide and within the United States shows that American agriculture must be a large contributor to a future where energy is clean, abundant, reliable and affordable both on and off the farm.
"Energy is a foundation of our economy, and we have to stabilize that foundation," said James Fischer, Ph.D., board member of the Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, at an issues conference at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting.
Fischer said projections indicate worldwide fossil fuel use will increase by 60 percent by 2025 compared to the turn of the century. U.S. use is expected to increase by 30 percent over that time frame.
Fischer quickly turned to praising the ingenuity of farmers and their potential for keeping fossil fuels use to a minimum. "Farmers figure out ways to be more efficient in their energy use," he said.
The 1974 oil embargo resulted in new technology for energy and farmers cutting their energy consumption as compared to the total U.S. consumption, he said. He praised Farm Bureau for being good at putting the pieces together in helping the country determine energy policy and direction.
Top priorities for agriculture include developing diversified energy sources and reliance on self-supply. He outlined the potentials for cellulosic ethanol (total ethanol fuel), hydrogen fuel, wind, solar, geothermal and biomass energy.
"Creating a bio-mass industry by extensive investment in research and development is extremely necessary," Fischer said.
He explained how it took 100 years in the United States to develop a petroleum industry that efficiently produces fuels, an array of byproducts and petroleum-based products such as plastics. The biomass refineries and industry must be developed much faster. Fischer encouraged strong support of research and development budgets.
