Environmental assessment of an innovative agricultural machinery

The reduction in the use of raw materials and the diffusion of energy efficient processes/components are necessary, nowadays, from both the economic and the sustainable viewpoints. This paper presents the design of a new and innovative multi-functional agricultural machinery able to integrate three separate traditional implements used for hay raking, hay baling and bale wrapping (i.e. hay rake, round baler, bale wrapper machines) with the aim of speeding up the harvesting operations and reducing both the energy consumption and the whole environmental impact. A comparative analysis of the environmental burden related to the adoption of traditional implements together with the new multi-functional device is reported and a significant reduction of fuel consumption, labor and environmental impact is observed close to 28%. The study is conducted by the adoption of the Life Cycle Assessment methodology, through which impact indicators of different damage categories (human health, ecosystem quality and resource depletion) are carefully quantified and highlighted.