Energy Footprint of Mechanized Agricultural Operations

Maria Lampridi, Dimitrios Kateris, Claus Grøn Sørensen and Dionysis Bochtis
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Maria Lampridi: Center for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), Institute for Bio-Economy and Agri-technology (IBO), 6th km Charilaou-Thermi Rd., 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece
Dimitrios Kateris: Center for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), Institute for Bio-Economy and Agri-technology (IBO), 6th km Charilaou-Thermi Rd., 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece
Claus Grøn Sørensen: Department of Engineering, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé 20, P.O. Box 50, 8830 Tjele, Denmark
Dionysis Bochtis: Center for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), Institute for Bio-Economy and Agri-technology (IBO), 6th km Charilaou-Thermi Rd., 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-15

Abstract: The calculation of the energy cost of a cultivation is a determining factor in the overall assessment of agricultural sustainability. Most studies mainly examine the entire life cycle of the operation, considering reference values and reference databases for the determination of the machinery contribution to the overall energy balance. This study presents a modelling methodology for the precise calculation of the energy cost of performing an agricultural operation. The model incorporates operational management into the calculation, while simultaneously considering the commercially available machinery (implements and tractors). As a case study, the operation of tillage was used considering both primary and secondary tillage (moldboard plow and field cultivator, respectively). The results show the importance of including specific operation parameters and the available machinery as part of determining the accurate total energy consumption, even though the field size and available time do not have a significant effect.

Keywords: agricultural operations; energy use; assessment tool; workability; machinery (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:3:p:769-:d:318813

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