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From Energy Source to Sink: Transformations of Austrian Agriculture

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Social Ecology

Part of the book series: Human-Environment Interactions ((HUEN,volume 5))

Abstract

Traditional low-input agriculture had to organize local land, labor and livestock resources in a way that maintained soil fertility and stable yields, albeit at a low level. Industrialization transformed the socioecological functioning of agriculture and its role in social metabolism. Agriculture turned into a high input/high output system that obtains high yields but consumes more energy than it produces. By formalizing the functional interrelations of agricultural systems into a sociometabolic model, we are able to reconstruct this process of transformation for the case of Austria .

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The large animal unit (LAU) is a standardized measure for livestock; all livestock is converted into animal units of 500 kg live-weight; i.e., a cow weighing 250 kg equals 0.5 LAU.

  2. 2.

    These basic innovations were closely related, directly or indirectly, to a series of other fossil-fuel-based technologies, e.g., breeding technologies, biotechnology, pesticides and herbicides, irrigation systems, industrial processing of raw materials, and refrigeration and conservation systems.

  3. 3.

    The spatial entities for which statistical data are recorded have changed between 1830 and 1999. The results for 1999 cover a considerably larger area. Averages and relative values can, however, be compared with reasonable accuracy over time.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Social Ecology (SEC), Alpen-Adria University, Schottenfeldgasse 29, 1070, Vienna, Austria

    Fridolin Krausmann

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  1. Fridolin Krausmann
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Correspondence to Fridolin Krausmann .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies, Alpen Adria University Institute of Social Ecology Vienna (SEC), Vienna, Austria

    Helmut Haberl

  2. Institute of Social Ecology Alpen Adria University, Vienna, Austria

    Marina Fischer-Kowalski

  3. Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies, Alpen Adria University Institute of Social Ecology Vienna (SEC), Vienna, Austria

    Fridolin Krausmann

  4. Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies, Alpen Adria University Institute of Social Ecology Vienna (SEC), Vienna, Austria

    Verena Winiwarter

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Krausmann, F. (2016). From Energy Source to Sink: Transformations of Austrian Agriculture. In: Haberl, H., Fischer-Kowalski, M., Krausmann, F., Winiwarter, V. (eds) Social Ecology. Human-Environment Interactions, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33326-7_21

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