Landwards Summer 2021
Practice: The future of the IC engine
An exciting time to be a pragmatic engineer No doubt some readers will have followed the recent virtual conference in early February, entitled ‘Sustainable IC engine’, organised by UKi Media & Events, associated with the excellent Engine & Powertrain Technology International publication. Alastair Tulloch gives his perspective.
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The topic concentrated mainly on the technical issues of current and future transport requirements, but prompted considerations concerning all forms of future power requirements.
solutions. There is no doubt that these issues can and will be resolved, but perhaps it needs a more pragmatic approach, together with the need for commercial viability to find the best solutions.
In terms of agriculture and agricultural engineering this must surely present exciting opportunities, as there are many challenges to be resolved and no easy or obvious
Electrification? The current desire to electrify everything is understandable, but perhaps the application should
be the prime consideration, as suitability will vary in everything, particularly in agriculture. Those applications with relatively light power/torque requirements, or intermittent use with relatively short durations clearly lend themselves to electrical power, especially if these are within a restricted location. For field use, these could be met by batteries, but such solutions have
