Energy footprint of the agriculture sector of Morocco

Abstract

The agriculture sector is today the pillar of Moroccan economic growth as it provides around 38% of employment. Today following the modernization of Moroccan agriculture, the increase in energy demand has experienced a large flow of growth while almost all of the country's energy, coming from fossil sources, is imported. Being one of the vital sectors for society, we analyzed its energy footprint from 2014 to 2021. The results showed that the energies used in the agricultural sector are electricity from coal-fired thermal power plants and diesel/ butane from petroleum. The change in the energy footprint was more than 29% for the study period. Crop production has the largest energy footprint with the cereal sector leading the way while poultry farms have the smallest footprint. The most serious environmental impact is observed at the level of farms using electricity produced from coal, while the cereal sector has more impact on resources. The practice of energy efficiency and the use of renewable energies prove led to a diminution of environmental impact and energy footprint of agriculture sector.