Analysis n° 17 - April 2010 Agriculture & Energy 2030 / How will farming adapt to future energy challenges?

Energy is a major element in the competitiveness and sustainability of the French farming sector. It stands at the heart of a new model for productive and ecologically responsible agriculture. In this regard, it has been a central focus for various programmes and action plans conducted by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries : among others, the Energy Performance Plan (PPE) launched in 2009. The Agriculture & Energy 2030 exercise is part of this process and is directed at highlighting opportunities and risks for the agricultural sector where energy is concerned over the next twenty years. The present note describes the main links between agricultural activities and energy-related issues, in addition to the approach to strategic foresight that has been adopted. Strategic foresight is neither totally scientific nor pure imagination ; it starts out from past and present facts in order to anticipate probable futures and prepare the way for decisions capable of facilitating or preventing the advent of those futures.