Promising trends and prospects for the use of alternative energy in agricultural tractors

The urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions neccessitates research into promising conceptual trends in alternative fuels, energy storage systems, and power sources for agricultural mobile machinery. This study presents a long-term forecast for the adoption of alternative energy in agricultural tractors, developed through an analysis of publications, patents, and expert opinions. Two development scenarios were modeled: a baseline scenario, which assumes the full elimination of greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with current policy targets, and a stagnation scenario, which envisions the continued predominance of conventional energy sources. For both scenarios, the costs of energy carriers, storage systems, and key components for alternative energy applications in tractors were estimated for the period from 2024 to 2050. Based on these estimates, the projected cost per motor hour was calculated for tractors of traction classes 1.4, 3, and 5, operating on diesel fuel, rapeseed oil, compressed natural gas, battery electric systems, and hydrogen fuel cells. The findings indicate that, in the near future, the use of agricultural tractors of traction classes 1.4, 3, and 5 powered by natural gas-fueled internal combustion engines may become economically viable, provided that the challenges associated with integrating gas cylinder equipment onboard the tractor are effectively addressed. Promising research areas include enhancing the efficiency of internal combustion engines, reducing pollutant emissions, and developing infrastructure for the transfer and storage of natural gas at agricultural enterprises. Electric tractors also offer considerable application potential. Further research is needed to develop electric transmissions tailored to specific machinery operating modes, improve energy storage systems, advance power conversion and control technologies, and establish charging infrastructure. Additionally, research on upgrading engine fuel systems for operation on pure biofuels and on exhaust gas aftertreatment for nitrogen oxide reduction remains highly relevant.

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