Input energy (MJ) Soft
wheat Barley Rye Oats Rape Potatoes Sugar
beet**
Favourable regions* Average 5.16 4.50 5.31 3.95 3.01 4.21 1.44
Average regions* Average 3.78 3.41 3.47 2.59 2.56 2.09 1.03
Unfavourable regions* Average 2.46 2.40 2.67 1.90 2.09 0.75 0.51
Favourable regions Standard deviation 0.29 0.38 1.27 1.50 0.14 0.55 0.18
Average regions Standard deviation 0.42 0.37 0.52 0.19 0.18 0.86 0.15
Unfavourable regions Standard deviation 0.66 0.34 0.70 0.25 0.58 0.12 0.14
*As per the classification in Chapter 4.1; **Containing 17 per cent sugar. Source: own calculations. Year: average of 2001-2003.
The technical efficiency of animal-production activities is shown in Tab. 11. For all ac-tivities, favourable regions have the highest level of efficiency and unfavourable ones the lowest, with the range being highest for bull fattening and lowest for pig fattening. From a nutritional standpoint, dairy-cow production is more efficient than the other activities, whilst pig fattening is still more efficient than bull fattening. The standard deviation of all production activities is relatively low.
Tab. 11. Technical energy efficiency of main products of animal-production activities Region: European
Union 25 Output energy (MJ)/
Input energy (MJ) Dairy
cows Bull
fattening Pig fattening
Favourable regions* Average 0.43 0.12 0.26
Average regions* Average 0.37 0.10 0.22
Unfavourable regions* Average 0.27 0.06 0.20
Favourable regions Standard deviation 0.02 0.01 0.01
Average regions Standard deviation 0.02 0.01 0.01
Unfavourable regions Standard deviation 0.04 0.01 0.02
*As per the classification in Chapter 4.1. Reference: main product of the production activity Source: own calculations. Year: average of 2001-2003.
Comparing plant and animal production, we see that no animal product has an effi-ciency higher than 1 (i.e. greater than 100 per cent), indicating that the requirements for the production of all animal products are higher than their nutritional output value. Con-sequently, bull fattening exhibits the highest energy-conversion losses among the activi-ties analysed. Reasons for such a disadvantageous ratio are relatively high feedstuff require-ments per kg of meat, as well as a comparatively low dressing percentage, the latter refer-ring to the percentage of the live weight found in the carcass (carcass weight/live weight times 100). Whereas dressing percentages of 56 to 65 per cent are common for beef, those for pork are in the 65 to 75 per cent range (see UW Extension, 2003).
The grouping of the EU-25 into favourable/average/unfavourable regions cannot be maintained for the analysis of the economic output/input coefficients. For historical rea-sons and owing to the current policy scheme, price and premium regimes differ substan-tially between the EU-15 and EU-10. Consequently, the comparison of an income-depen-dent coefficient over the EU-25 carries the risk of misinterpretation of the results. For this reason, three country groups are analysed in Tab. 12: EU-15 (the Western European coun-tries), EU-10 (the «new» EU countries) and the EU-25. This permits an assessment for the different products as well as for the country aggregates. The results indicate significant dif-ferences between the EU-15 and the EU-10 in energy used to achieve one EURO of income, with the EU-10 requiring more than double the energy required by the EU-15 for all activi-ties except oilseed-rape production. For some crops such as potatoes, nine times the en-ergy is actually needed. The standard deviation (in relative terms: i.e. the standard devia-tion in reladevia-tion to the average value) does not differ greatly between the EU-15 and the EU-10, and hence permits no further interpretation. Comparing the different production activities, for the EU-15 all cereals and oilseed rape require similar amounts of energy to generate one EURO of income; considerably less energy is required for sugar beet and po-tatoes. In the EU-10, cereal crops exhibit a wider range of energy use, with rye and oats having a higher energy requirement than soft wheat and barley. Sugar beet has a lower energy requirement, whilst potatoes have a relatively high one. The results for the EU-25 therefore lie between those of the EU-10 and EU-15, with the standard deviation showing the broad range of sites included in the indicator.
In keeping with the groupings for plant production, animal production is also shaped by different income situations between the EU-15 and EU-10. Consequently, in Tab. 13, the results are broken down according to the same system. Particularly in the EU-10, because of low stocks, there are an insufficient number of bulls per country to allow the calculation of an interpretable income average. In an overall EU-25 share, less than 10 per cent of all fattening bulls are in the EU-10, whilst more than 90 per cent are to be found in the EU-15.
In dairy-cow production, there are significant differences between the EU-15 and the EU-10 in the energy required to generate one EURO of income, whereas values are almost equal for pig fattening. The standard deviation shows a similar pattern to that of plant-produc-tion activities, i.e is significantly higher for the EU-25 level.
Tab. 12. Economic-energy output/input for plant products Region Energy Input (MJ)/
Income (€) Soft
wheat Barley Rye Oats Rape Potatoes Sugar
beet
European Union 15 Average 36.46 39.85 39.33 36.01 33.76 11.30 14.70
European Union 10 Average 88.59 92.46 135.47 137.59 63.41 106.34 42.74
European Union 25 Average 50.75 50.38 105.65 106.93 42.67 60.44 20.95
European Union 15 Standard deviation 15.77 11.01 14.99 12.33 7.06 4.66 8.27
European Union 10 Standard deviation 36.76 31.39 31.02 30.90 12.25 47.89 12.67
European Union 25 Standard deviation 33.33 30.16 41.45 42.07 17.36 35.48 14.43
Source: own calculations. Year: average of 2001-2003.
Tab. 13. Economic-energy output/input for animal-production activities Region Energy Input (MJ)/
Income (€) Dairy
cows Bull
fattening* Pig fattening
European Union 15 Average 24.48 57.75 71.05
European Union 10 Average 142.52 74.77
European Union 25 Average 45.67 71.78
European Union 15 Standard deviation 6.91 51.14 20.10
European Union 10 Standard deviation 73.94 46.23
European Union 25 Standard deviation 44.53 29.47
*Adequate stocks for calculating average values available for EU-15 only.
Source: own calculations. Year: average of 2001-2003. Income covering main and marketable by-products.
Comparing plant and animal production within their appropriate geographical settings, it can be seen that dairy-cow production in the EU-15 requires less energy input per Euro of income than most plant-production activities, surpassed only by potato and sugar-beet production. Bull and pig fattening, on the other hand, require significantly more energy input per Euroof income than all plant-production activities. On the EU-25 level, only oilseed-rape and sugar-beet production require less energy input per Euro of income than dairy-cow production. Pig fattening requires less energy input than rye and oats production.
To conclude, the interpretation of the figures differs substantially depending on whether technical energy efficiency alone is considered, or income is taken into account: both the outcome of a comparison between plant products as well as the preference for either plant or animal production changes. In addition, the geographic focus between these two coeffi-cients changes the interpretation of the data.
4.3 Energy-related emissions
After the preceding broad analysis of the base-period production conditions, this chap-ter investigates the climate-related emissions linked to non-renewable-energy use. For greater ease of interpretation, the system set up in chapters 4.1.1 and 4.1.3 which classi-fies the sites as favourable/average/unfavourable, is retained for this analysis. Emissions linked to energy use are assessed as described in 1.5. Furthermore, for the sake of consist-ency, GHG emissions are expressed in relation to area or head of livestock. Tab. 14 shows the emissions for plant-production processes. Several aspects are striking when we com-pare these emissions with the energy use shown in Tab. 6. Firstly, the ratio between the different production activities can be found for both emissions and for energy use, with potato production having the highest energy-requirement level, followed by sugar beet.
Secondly, the ratio between the standard deviation and the average is similar for both en-ergy use and emissions. Moreover, differences occur, particularly in the values of soft wheat, barley and rye, between the emissions of unfavourable and favourable regions, the emis-sions being lower in the former. This phenomenon can be explained by the significance of grain drying and irrigation, which are performed on these sites. Both are linked to the con-sumption of electricity, with drying processes also tied to heating-gas concon-sumption. Both energy sources produce lower emissions per MJ of energy content than does diesel fuel.
Consequently, the correlation coefficient between energy use and emissions is significantly lower than 1 for the unfavourable sites, resulting in the described emission pattern. Never-theless, the overall pattern shows a strong correlation between energy use and its associ-ated emissions for plant-production activities.
Tab. 14. Energy-related GHG emissions for crop farming in the EU-25 Region: European
Union 25 CO2 Emissions from