Energy and economics of intensive animal production

Abstract

An examination of support energy use within the major systems of animal production shows that substantial outputs occur as heat and excreta and, if these could be utilised, overall energetic efficiencies could be greatly changed.

The main justification for energy accounting as more relebant than financial accounting in the longer term rests on the probability that the price of energy will rise more than the price of other resources.

Whilst there are substantial differences between the support energy costs of production for different products, the differences between intensive and extensive systems producing the same product are not enormous. The more intensive systems tend to use more support energy, but also produce more product per unit of other resources, and their support energy costs tend to represent a higher proportion of total costs.