How the World Really Works: A Scientist’s Guide to Our Past, Present and Future

by Vaclav Smil

When asked to give common examples of our reliance on fossil fuels, inhabitants of the colder parts of Europe and North America will think immediately about the natural gas used to heat their houses. People everywhere will point out the combustion of liquid fuels that power most of our transportation but the modern world’s most important—and fundamentally existential—dependence on fossil fuels is their direct and indirect use in the production of our food. Direct use includes fuels to power all field machinery (mostly tractors, combines, and other harvesters), the transportation of harvests from fields to storage and processing sites, and irrigation pumps. Indirect use is much broader, taking into account the fuels and electricity used to produce agricultural machinery, fertilizers, and agrochemicals (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides), and other inputs ranging from glass and plastic sheets for greenhouses, to global positioning devices that enable precision farming.