Energy efficiency improvement in farming equipment, for agricultural holdings

Abstract

Abstract The use of depreciated and outdated agricultural equipment reflects both, on the increased cost of production (due to the higher energy component), and the greater amount of emissions produced during the operation of that equipment. The presented paper deals with energy and emission analysis of the replacement of existing farming equipment in a holding, with a new one. The analysis considers the baseline tractor and harvester and their specific agricultural operations, related to the processing of the soil and the harvesting of the production. The analysis is based on the existing energy consumption of the old machines and accounting information on the operation of the new equipment, one year after its commissioning. The study shows that the estimated energy savings from the measures of 17.2%, with a similar carbon footprint reduction. Based on the technical characteristics, CO, HC, HC + NOx and NOx emissions were also analyzed. The percentage of estimated carbon emission savings is higher than 43.5%.