A project from Faculty of Agricultural Engineering (Feagri) from Unicamp and São Paulo Center for Energy Transition Studies (CPTEn) seeks to increase the efficiency of agricultural machinery and the inclusion of small farmers in the universe of digital technologies. Under the guidance of Professor Barbara Teruel, the initiative is in its initial phase and will be developed by postgraduate and undergraduate students from the Digital Agriculture and Energy Laboratory (Lade). To carry out this project, the researchers will count on the partnership of Mahindra, a large Indian company in the agricultural machinery sector that lent a tractor model 6060, with a power of 57 horsepower (HP, or horsepower, equivalent to 42 kW).
Daniel Zacher, a doctoral student linked to the project, will carry out several experiments to evaluate the mechanical performance of the tractor and the presence of polluting gases resulting from the burning of different fuels, with new biofuel alternatives. To achieve this, mixtures with different percentages of diesel from fossil fuels and renewable sources will be tested. Zacher is a mechanical engineer by training with professional experience in certifying machines to ensure compliance with national and international technical standards. And he is also the founder and serves as general director of Tekter Consulting, a daughter company of the University next to Innovation Agency Innovates Unicamp.
In this part of the project, a new biofuel called BeVant, from the Brazilian company, will be used Be8, presented in October 2023 as a superior option to biodiesel and cheaper than hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO; this oil is known as green diesel). The idea is to evaluate the concentration of gases such as carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) exhaled during laboratory tests. This measurement will be made with the aid of equipment called Portable Emissions Measurement System (Pems), model OBS-One, from Japanese industry Horiba, another partner of Lade and CPTEn.
As the researcher recalls, Brazil has a history of laws in this area since the 1970s, the time of the National Alcohol Program (Proálcool), which invested in the production of this fuel of vegetable origin and less polluting than gasoline as it has a neutral cycle. of carbon. In the mid-1980s, in view of the growing concern about pollution caused by motor vehicles, resolution No. 18/1986, later Law No. 8.723/1993, was published by the National Environmental Council (Conama), configuring the Program of Vehicle Emissions Control (Proconve). However, only with another Conama resolution, No. 433/2011 (in force since 2015), maximum pollutant emission limits for agricultural machinery were included (within the MAR-1 phase).
More recently, the National Biofuels Policy (Renovabio), established by Law No. 13.576/2017, represented an advance in the Brazilian energy transition, in search of a low-carbon economy. Currently, the National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), through resolution No. 920/2023, requires a minimum percentage of 12% biodiesel in the fuel mixture, reaching 15%. There are prospects, however, for this value to reach 25% in the future, according to a statement by the country's Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, during COP28, in Dubai.
One advantage highlighted by Zacher is that this new biofuel could replace diesel without the need for major adaptations to the engines. Considering that road transport is the country's main mode, the BeVant can also be used in other types of cargo transport, such as trucks and buses, and in civil construction, in addition to being able to power generators, crucial equipment in communities isolated from traditional transport networks. energy transmission.
Men and machines
Another important stage of the project involves the creation of a Human-Machine Interface (HMI), that is, an easy-to-use portable electronic device, to be installed on tractors, with the purpose of improving interaction between the operator and the machine. Using a combination of advanced hardware such as the ESP32 and Raspberry Pi minicomputer, along with open source software such as Node-Red, the system offers a touchscreen. By providing the user with real-time data on the tractor's performance, including fuel consumption, engine revolutions per minute, current gear, estimated torque and horsepower, the interface will help understand how the machine's various operating modes affect these parameters. critics.
This phase must be carried out by Fernando Finger, electrical engineer, with an emphasis on electronics and a master's degree student linked to the project. According to the researcher, the acquisition and recording of operational data will help not only in creating a history of the tractor's operation, but also in formulating indices that help decision-making, including reducing downtime due to breakdowns. In this way, it will enable a more efficient, economical operation and adjusted to the needs of agricultural work. The first experiments have already begun and also include the participation of Rodrigo Munuera, Agricultural Engineering student and undergraduate scientific researcher. In the future, there will also be the development of a system for quantifying and detecting pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHG) contained in tractor engine exhaust, using thermal images and artificial intelligence.
For a digital field
Agricultural activity is one of the biggest emitters of GHGs. In between 1990 and 2017, there was an increase of 1,37% per year in the contribution of emissions by the sector, measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2e). Therefore, there is a fear that this scenario will further aggravate the problem of the climate emergency, potentially increasing the number of extreme events, with harmful consequences for agricultural production. For this reason, investments in research and development in the area must be encouraged. This is all so that this commercial sector, which is so important for Brazil's economy, is included in the ESG agenda (acronym in English for environmental, social and corporate governance) as well as being aligned with the 2030 Agenda and with the Sustainable Development Goals (ODS) established by the United Nations (UN).
The last Agricultural Census, carried out in 2017 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and released in 2019, detailed the panorama of rural production in the country. Among the various results presented for the period 2006-2017, the survey indicated that, even with a 2% drop in the number of rural establishments and a reduction of 1,5 million workers in the field, there was a 5% increase in cultivated areas. Still in these 11 years, the tractor fleet increased by almost 50%, reaching 1,2 million units in 2017. Of this total, however, more than 900 thousand tractors have less than 100 horsepower and 44% of them are 20 years old or more of use.
Furthermore, according to the book Brazilian Agriculture, from the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea), the total productivity growth of 3,1% per year in the sector since 1990 draws attention to the central role played by technology in the field, combined with scientific advances. Digital inclusion, however, represents an additional challenge, especially for medium and small rural producers, such as family farmers, due to their limited access to credit lines when compared to large producers. Therefore, given that tractors constitute a significant investment, smaller vehicles, with a capacity of up to 80 horsepower and simpler technologically, become the most suitable option for this work.
In view of this, this project has great potential to leverage digital transformation and modernization processes among small and medium-sized producers, in accordance with the National Policy for Incentives on Precision Agriculture (Law No. 4.538/2019), aiming to gain competitiveness and improving the scientific basis in the formulation of public policies.
