Based in Lithuania, Auga is an organisation that declares itself as a “vertically integrated organic food producer”, with a mission to deliver organic food at no cost to nature.
Three years ago, the group looked at its overall emissions and calculated that 30% of them arose from the use of fossil fuels, and so it set about developing a new tractor powered by an alternative energy source.
Prototype fleet
The result is the Auga M1, a 400hp machine using a hybrid biomethane-electric system to power it, which was first unveiled to the public in late 2021.
This season, three different versions of the tractor will be tested on the company’s farms with the results being distilled into the final version which is to go on sale at some point in the future.
The chief claim to this machine being a breakthrough in tractor design rests on the fact that it can run for 12 hours without refuelling.
When it does need to top up, the methane is contained in canisters which can be swapped over, rather than filled while still on board the tractor.
This, the company claims, has solved the restricted range and refuelling issues that have plagued other designs.
Dual power sources
It goes on to explain that when operating under normal conditions that do not require high power, the tractor stores the generated energy reserve in the batteries.
Such an arrangement, Auga claims, does not waste energy in low load conditions for it uses a relatively small, but efficient, motor when full power is not required. It is then able to switch back to the main engine when needed.
According to Kestutis Juscius, CEO of AUGA group, the choice of biomethane as an alternative fuel is not accidental because Auga considers it one of the greenest types of biofuel.
Methane, collected from livestock waste and converted to biomethane, offsets more emissions per unit of energy in its production and use cycle, than it emits the company tells us.
Auga manages approximately 39,000ha of organically certified tillage land and employs over 1,200 people, allowing plenty of scope for testing.
