El-traktorers potential att minska Sveriges klimatpåverkan: en studie av maskinsystem i lantbruket

In this study, the potential in reducing climate change by switching Swedish agriculture to lighter, electric and self-driving tractors fuelled by hydrogen or batteries was assessed. The following goals were set for the delivery:1. A timeline of the technological development, where technology readiness and time to market were assumed. 2. An LCA with focus on climate change for electric tractors compared to a conventional system. 3. A calculation of the potential reduction of climate change on a national level.The timeline showed that there were several steps in development before the electric systems were ready for market, even though they build on known technology. They are currently in the demonstration phase and are assumed to have 12-13 years until market readiness.The LCA showed on a yearly climate impact of 80 kg CO2eq./ha for the battery-electric system and 117 kg CO2eq./ha for the hydrogen system, compared to 246 kg CO2eq./ha for the conventional system. These values were simulated for a grain based crop rotation on clay soil. The reduction mainly came from the lower impacts of the fuel, as both electricity and hydrogen have lower impacts than diesel, and that the higher driveline efficiency of the electric systems reduced the energy need with 50-65%.The national climate impact was approximated by adding more crops and soil types. The calculation included all 2.6 million hectares of arable land in Sweden. The calculation resulted in a climate impact of 536 million kg CO2eq. /year for the conventional diesel scenario. Switching to battery-electric tractors could reduce this with 65-81% and to hydrogen with 53-92%. In both cases, the interval depended on the origin of the fuel. Electricity from renewable sources had the largest reduction potential. Electrification of agricultural machinery could lead to a reduction of the climate impact of Sweden’s transport sector with 2-3%.