New Holland's Solar/Hydrogen Powered Tractor

 

A tractor that uses hydrogen fuel created in conjunction with renewable energy sources such as solar power - it's not just a concept on a designer's drawing board, it's a reality. Meet New Holland's NH2 tractor - the company's contribution to energy independent farming.
  
The NH2 produces virtually zero emissions, just a little water, and delivers around 130HP. The machine is incredibly quiet, generating only 55dB. The torque of the prototype is 300 Nm and a full 110 litre tank of hydrogen would provide around 1.5 and 2 hours running time - something the company says it will improve throughout the NH2's evolution.
  
While most commercially produced hydrogen is created through processes that emit carbon dioxide, New Holland's Energy Independent Farm (EIF) concept shows the viability of producing hydrogen from renewable resources such as solar power on the farm itself, rather than through fossil fuel based electricity generation and production occurring elsewhere.
  
In the Energy Independent Farm concept, an electrolyser uses an electric current generated by a solar power system to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen, with the hydrogen stored on-site for later use. A litre of water contains about the same energy potential as a litre of petrol and while water is a scarce resource in many regions of Australia, any water can be used - including bore water not fit for other agricultural purposes.
  
New Holland also points out that while conversion of the current U.S. car fleet to fuel cell vehicles would require about 300 billion litres of water a year to supply the hydrogen, around 900 billion litres of water is used for the production of petrol annually.
  
New Holland estimates that the solar farm needed to run a hydrogen fuel generation system could be paid back in 3 years or less through diesel and petrol savings. 
  
The NH2 isn't commercially available as yet and the prototype will be tested on a farm next year.
   
Learn more about the New Holland's NH2 tractor.
   

Catalyst Key To Personalised Renewable Energy Power Plants

 

The discovery of a new catalyst that boosts the production of oxygen in fuel cells will pave the way for “personalised” renewable energy power plants, a study has found.
   
In a report to the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, a group of scientists led by Daniel Nocera, Ph.D released details of a breakthrough which Nocera claims will, using existing home solar technology, eventually free households and businesses from reliance on electricity companies for energy.
  
"Our goal is to make each home its own power station," Nocera said. "We're working toward development of 'personalized' energy units that can be manufactured, distributed and installed inexpensively."
  
Nocera's vision is for a home with a rooftop solar panel system providing energy for heating, cooking, and charging an electric car during the day. Surplus electricity would go to an "electrolyser," a device that breaks down ordinary water into its two components, hydrogen and oxygen. These elements would then be fed into a fuel cell which would in turn produce clean electricity, picking up the slack from the solar panels at night, giving the home a constant flow of power. 
   
Nocera's report focused on the electrolyzer, which needs catalysts - materials that jumpstart chemical reactions like the ones that break water up into hydrogen and oxygen. Until now, effective catalysts for separating sufficient quantities of oxygen have been severely limited. The new catalyst multiplies oxygen production 200-fold. It eliminates the need for expensive platinum catalysts and potentially toxic chemicals used in making them.
 
It is hoped the new catalyst will usher in a new era of ultra-efficient electrolyser-fed fuel cells which, coupled with solar panel and other renewable energy power systems, will give households true energy independence.
 
Image credit Len Rubenstein and Massachusetts Institute Of Technology
  

News for Monday 30 August, 2010

 

• Origin, AGL Warn Of Electricity Price Increases
  


• Sanyo's Solar Power Assisted Bus
  

View all news for Monday 30 August, 2010 on one page

Recent News

 

• Sunday 29 August, 2010
  


• Thursday 26 August, 2010
  


• Wednesday 25 August, 2010
  


• Tuesday 24 August, 2010
  


• Monday 23 August, 2010
  

News archive