The key areas include energy- and resource-effective production, automation of production systems, and new measures to reduce environmental impacts of agriculture. Our researchers participate in the teaching and development of degree programmes.
Transition from linear to circular economy is seen as a necessary development path for saving natural resources, protecting the environment, and for combating the climate change. Research is closely linked with teaching. Circular.now and its Finnish sister MOOC Kiertotalous.nyt have been prepared to promote understanding of the circular economy widely in universities. MOOC = Massive Open Online Course. The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra is the key financier of this course and it is produced as a co-operation of The LUT University, the University of Helsinki, University of Eastern Finland, and Aalto University.
The research focusing on energy efficiency evaluates new technologies and renewable energy sources in order to reduce energy consumption and emissions in agriculture. Fossil fuel based energy carriers generates a significant amount of emissions that can be reduced by using renewable energy sources. The use of electrical energy, automated systems and sustainable production methods are among the key technologies in the future.
Computer modeling and virtual simulation are used as research methods in new technology development and assessment for agricultural vehicles, work process automation, and data exploitation. Due to the increasing computational power and effective modeling methods, new technologies such as electrification and automation can be virtually developed and evaluated in different environments.
Soil managements is a key issue to maintain good soil quality, high yield production potential of fields, and to reduce e.g. the erosion, nutrient leaching and greenhouse gas emissions from fields. We focuse on developing sustainable soil tillage systems connected to crop sequence, precision agriculture, and utilizing the continuous measurement systems to examine soil-crop interactions.