Renewable Energy: A New Paradigm for Agricultural Growth

Abstract

The Global Alliance for the Future of Food (2023) reported that the agriculture and allied sectors accounted for about 2.17% of global energy consumption in 2021. These sectors represented nearly 15% of the total energy use across the global food value chain during the same year. In India, agriculture alone uses about 8.23 lakh terajoules of energy annually (FAO, 2025). Most of this energy comes from fossil fuels and electricity made from nonrenewable sources like coal. As reported by FAO (2022), the combined use of fossil fuels and electricity by agriculture and allied sectors worldwide resulted in 0.93 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂)- equivalent emissions in 2021. During the same period, energy use in agriculture in India released an estimated 159 megatons of CO₂-equivalent emissions.