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.
