Energetic, economic and ecological balances of a combined food and energy system

Agriculture is one of the industries most exposed to climate change and is also a contributor of anthropogenic CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. In this paper we describe an integrated agricultural system with the goal of neutralising the energy-related CO2 emissions from agriculture by substituting fossil with biofuel energy produced on mandatory set-aside areas. We show that such a system can be economically viable both from a farmerʹs point of view and from a social point of view, and that the introduction of biofuel production on a local scale can have benefits apart from energetic and climatic aspects. The net reduction of CO2 emissions is equivalent to an externality benefit of about 300 Euro per hectare, an amount equivalent to the current set-aside payments for Denmark.