Trade-off relationship between energy use and environmental quality in US agriculture: a multiobjective linear-programming analysis

Thesis/Dissertation · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:6754302

Chung, P K

Improvements of environmental quality and energy production and conservation for present and future generations have become important goals of our society. However, improvement of one goal is in general accompanied by degradation of the other goal since energy use as well as new energy-production technologies result in contamination of water and air which are vital to public health. It is assumed that policymakers have three objectives to be minimized in US agricultural crop production. The objectives are minimization of crop production and transportation costs, soil loss, and energy use in producing the given demands. An interregional linear-programming model was constructed to examine changes in production patterns, resource-use patterns, cost, and soil loss in response to single objectives versus multiobjectives. A partial trade-off relationship between soil loss and energy use was also derived by employing the constraint method. The model has a set of constraints and a set of activities. There are approx. 1200 resource constraints and more than 30,000 activities in the model. The year 1990 was specified as the basis for the analysis. Decrease in energy use in US crop production can be achieved by increased adoption of reduced tillage practices, a shift of crop production from irrigated land to dryland, and substitution of cropland for energy inputs.

• OSTI ID: 6754302
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
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291000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Conservation
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32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
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AGRICULTURE
DEMAND
ENERGY DEMAND
ENERGY SOURCE DEVELOPMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
INDUSTRY
LINEAR PROGRAMMING
NORTH AMERICA
PROGRAMMING
USA