Food System Decarbonization

Food systems include the production, processing, packaging, transportation, storage, wholesale, retail, consumption, waste and disposal of food. Even more broadly the food systems touch chemical manufacturing, agriculture, food and beverage manufacturing, the service industry, and municipal waste. All these systems require energy as a key input, a significant portion of which is provided by fossil fuels, either through direct use in farming activities and food processing, or through indirect use in the production of agricultural inputs and machinery (Wood et. Al, 2010). While fossil fuels have played a significant role in increasing food productivity, it is not without costs. Exposure to fossil fuel price volatility and contribution to climate change can detrimentally affect food prices and increase the occurrence of crop stressors such as drought, respectively (Canning et al., 2010; and IPCC 2019). Fuel price volatility most acutely affects countries that depend on fossil fuel imports, while the effects of climate change jeopardize the food security and well-being of the global population. In the developed world, the use of energy in the food systems has grown steadily for some time. At the turn of the 20^th century, roughly 40 percent of Americans were farmers; today that number is less than 1 percent (Lusk 2016). This immense increase in labor productivity is almost solely attributable to increased capital sophistication, driven entirely by fossil fuels. And as developing countries transition to middle income, their food systems will likely develop similarly to the developed world, vastly increasing global energy demand in the food systems. Addressing energy use in the food systems is therefore vital. Renewable energy and energy efficiency offer a solution to shield the food systems from volatile fossil fuel prices, decarbonize food production, and increase profitability. This presentation proposes methods and approaches to investigate these opportunities.