Connected and autonomous electric and fuel-cell powered agricultural power units: A feasibility study.

Abstract

Agricultural labour shortages coupled with a required increase in global food production and increasingly stringent sustainable farming legislation are creating a ‘perfect storm’ opportunity for a much greater reliance on electric and autonomous technologies in agriculture. Fuel cell (FC), electric vehicle (EV), and connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technologies are being successfully adapted to meet the needs of several on-road and off-road vehicular applications. In this article, we focus on the feasibility of integrating FC, EV, and CAV technologies to power units adapted to the autonomous completion of agricultural field operations. Such small-scale autonomous agricultural power units (AAPU) would be intended for cluster/fleet operations and feature communication capabilities facilitated through a next-generation network infrastructure. These AAPUs would be compatible with a variety of agricultural implements to provide operational versatility and value to a wide range of farming operations. Such FC & EV powered AAPUs could reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural operations by an average of 70% relative to emissions from diesel power units. This article further demonstrates that these autonomous technologies could be leveraged at a cost comparable to current diesel operations in agriculture.