Another factor in determining sustainability is it ask what harm is being done to the environment and health of the people by using this resource. Fossil fuels certainly fail this test. The extraction, processing and burning of these fuels is the largest single cause of environmental degradation - oil spills, toxic waste, urban smog, acid rain and ultimately global climate change. Seven billion tons of carbon dioxide are emitted a year. The first step is energy efficiency.
Reduced tillage is one way.
As above figures show, chisel plowing used almost half the fuel of plowing. Using less fertilizer and pesticides also reduces energy use. Organic fertilizers generally take less energy to produce than their chemical equivalents. Local marketing where ever possible would greatly reduce the huge amount of energy now used to transport agricultural products. Rotational grazing to produce livestock offers a large energy savings over conventional methods.