ABSTRACT
During sociometabolic transitions from traditional to industrial societies, the role of agriculture as the major source of energy and materials in preindustrial societies gave place to fossil fuels and minerals in industrial societies (Krausmann and Haberl, 2002; Fischer-Kowalski and Haberl, 2007; Infante Amate et al., 2015). In the specic case of agriculture, metabolic transitions are characterized by large quantitative and qualitative changes in agrarian inputs that were usually linked to increases in outputs (increased land productivity) and decreases in human labor (increased labor productivity) (Boserup, 1981; Giampietro et al., 1999) Typically, solar-based
CONTENTS
4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 79 4.2 Theoretical and Methodological Considerations ............................................ 81 4.3 Human Labor .................................................................................................. 83 4.4 Energy Carriers (Fuels and Electricity) ..........................................................85 4.5 Raw Materials .................................................................................................87 4.6 Traction Power ................................................................................................88 4.7 Synthetic Fertilizers and Pesticides ................................................................ 91 4.8 Irrigation .........................................................................................................94 4.9 Other Infrastructure ........................................................................................97 4.10 Transport .........................................................................................................97 4.11 Nonindustrial Inputs .......................................................................................99 4.12 Some Conclusions ......................................................................................... 101 4.13 Working Example: Agricultural Inputs in Spain in 2008 ............................ 102
local, organic inputs produced on farm such as manure and animal draft power were substituted by high amounts of fossil fuel-based external inorganic inputs such as synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, machinery, fuel, and electricity (Guzmán and González de Molina, 2009).
