Proving that Europe remains a hot-bed of ideas in the world of farm machinery comes news that a top machinery maker is planning to unveil a hydrogen-powered tractor later this year.
A brief media statement from New Holland says it has snared a Gold Medal SIMA Innovation Award ahead of the Paris Show due to be staged in February.
For the present, there’s not much in the way of detail other than a broad-brush statement that the hydrogen-powered tractor is pivotal to New Holland’s Energy Independent Farm concept.
This project reportedly hopes to free farmers from the cost of purchasing fossil-fuels, thereby allowing them to achieve fuel autonomy.
Visitors can expect to see the internal combustion engine on board a T6000 experimental tractor replaced with hydrogen fuel cells.
The idea is for them to generate the electricity needed to drive the electric motors that will deliver the 120hp prototype sufficient tractive power to fulfil a range of farm tasks – as per a conventionally-powered T6000 tractor.
Interestingly, all this will be accomplished while in virtual silence and emitting only water and vapour.
New Holland says hydrogen-powered vehicles – particularly in the car industry - have been in development for several years and offer many benefits over battery-driven vehicles.
Principal drawbacks, like the time taken to recharge batteries, reportedly are overcome if compressed hydrogen fuel is used.
As well, fuel cells avoid the environmental issues of disposing of batteries with energy-dense compressed hydrogen, able to be stored conveniently in a tank.
A spokesperson for New Holland conceded that traditional barriers to the use of hydrogen, centre on its distribution and availability.
As a result, New Holland’s Energy Independent Farm concept envisages customers producing their own compressed hydrogen from water.
This would be accomplished using a process called electrolysis, or directly from methane by burning waste, or from biomasses.
Production systems would be powered by wind farms or solar panels and the hydrogen would be stored at the farm in underground tanks.
“Farmers are in a unique position to benefit from hydrogen technology,” according to the New Holland spokesperson.
“They have the space to install alternative electricity generation systems, such as solar, wind, biomass or waste plants, and then store that power as hydrogen.”