Electric Propulsion in Agriculture Vehicles: Opportunities and Challenges

Seminar | October 12 | 12-1 p.m. |  Zoom

Speaker:  Ricardo de Castro, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UC Merced

Sponsor:  CITRIS and the Banatao Institute

Off-road vehicles, such as tractors, are crucial to a wide range of farming tasks, including tillage and harvesting. Almost all self-propelled agricultural equipment relies on diesel engines, a main source of smog-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx) and other greenhouse gases. According to the California Air Resources Board, off-road vehicles are on track to surpass road transportation as the state’s largest source of NOx emissions by 2022. This is particularly problematic in the San Joaquin Valley, where more than 50 percent of California’s agriculture equipment is used. There is a critical need to decarbonize agriculture and promote sustainable, clean agricultural vehicles. Electrification of tractors is the long-term solution. California aims to transition all off-road vehicles to zero-emission propulsion by 2035 and adopt stricter air pollution regulations for this sector. This talk will focus on the transition from today’s diesel-dominated machines to tomorrow’s zero-emission tractors.

Click here to register:
https://berkeley.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_X4naVwEJST-44gpC5WgVsQ

Event Contact:  daisyh@berkeley.edu

Access Coordinator:  Daisy Hernandez,  daisyh@berkeley.edu,  510-644-4301