Improving Diesel Fuel Efficiency on Farms in Western Australia
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
1-2009
Conference Title
Agricultural Technologies In a Changing Climate: The 2009 CIGR International Symposium of the Australian Society for Engineering in Agriculture
Place of Publication
Brisbane
ISBN
9780858259096
Keywords
Energy consumption, Diesel fuels, Biodiesel fuels
Disciplines
Agricultural Science | Agronomy and Crop Sciences
Abstract
This paper outlines methods that improve on-farm diesel fuel efficiency and discusses a Microsoft Excel based Farm Fuel Calculator to compare fuel use of different operations on wheatbelt farms in Western Australia. Methods to improve fuel use efficiency include; purchasing a fuel efficient engine with test results from Nebraska and OECD reports, reducing the load, using a tramline farming system, select efficient operations using the Farm Fuel Calculator and possibly making biodiesel. Nebraska and OECD reports are available on-line and a variation of up to one third in fuel efficiency can exist. For example, using the test report figure of '75% of Pull at Maximum Power', which is a fair comparison for wheatbelt farm use, a Caterpillar Challenger 95E used 267 g/kWh of diesel compared to an older International 4786 which used 357 g/kWh or 34% more than the Caterpillar 95E. The Farm Fuel Calculator shows predicted fuel use per hectare for sowing, spraying, hay making, swathing and harvesting and has been calibrated to WA wheatbelt farms.
Recommended Citation
Riethmuller, G., & Salam, M. (2009). Improving Diesel Fuel Efficiency on Farms in Western Australia. In Agricultural Technologies In a Changing Climate: The 2009 CIGR International Symposium of the Australian Society for Engineering in Agriculture. Engineers Australia. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.641981373344043
