Agriculture Electrification, Emerging Technologies, Trends and Barriers: A Comprehensive Literature Review

Abstract On a global scale, the agriculture sector is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and this holds true for the European Union as well. While a shift to renewable energy sources could reduce reliance on fossil fuels and enable electrified agriculture, there are significant challenges to overcome. These include the high initial costs and inconsistent energy output of renewable sources, as well as issues with acceptance and cost related to electric tractor technology and load-balancing batteries. To explore potential solutions and future prospects for electrifying agriculture, a literature review is conducted to identify emerging technologies and research trends in areas such as agrovoltaics, semi-transparent photovoltaic panels, energy storage systems and electric tractors. The review conducted will provide a valuable insight into future research and the implementation of emerging technologies, thus addressing the challenges faced by the agriculture sector during its transition to electrification based on renewable energy sources.