By Bill Siuru
Progressive Farmer Contributing Editor
The NH2 prototype captured the gold at the SIMA show in Paris in 2009.
New Holland recently unveiled its prototypal NH2 hydrogen-powered tractor as part of its Energy Independent Farm concept. The basic idea is to gather alternative, renewable energy sources available on the farm and convert them into hydrogen.
New Holland's Pierre Lahutte says, "Farmers are in a unique position to benefit from hydrogen technology. Unlike many people, they have the space to install alternative electricity generation systems, such as solar, wind, biomass or waste, and then store that power as hydrogen."
The fuel cell system powering the NH2 operates on hydrogen, which can be produced by a variety of processes. It can be obtained from biomass, including farm waste, where methane is converted into hydrogen. Another possibility is to produce hydrogen from electrolysis. This process uses electricity from solar panels and wind turbines to break water down into hydrogen and oxygen.
Using solar and wind power to produce hydrogen, and using that hydrogen on the farm, eliminates the need to construct transmission lines to move power to other locations.
The New Holland NH2 fuel cell tractor was developed in Italy and garnered a gold medal at the SIMA Innovation Awards in 2009 in Paris. This prototypal zero-emissions tractor uses the New Holland T6000 Series mid-size tractor frame. Fuel cells replace the combustion engine, providing electricity to power the 106-hp electric motor that drives all four wheels as well as its auxiliary systems.
Diesel-powered T6000 Series tractors are powered by 101- to 155-hp diesel engines, so performance should be quite comparable. Actually, the fuel cell-powered tractor should perform better since its wheels are driven by an electric motor; electric motors typically provide maximum torque right from zero rpm.
Compressed hydrogen, stored in a tank on the tractor, reacts in the fuel cell with oxygen drawn from the air to produce electricity. The only emission is water. Thus, a fuel cell tractor will eliminate nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and carbon dioxide emissions while operating virtually silently.
"Apart from the environmental benefits, such a system would allow customers to become energy-independent and improve their financial stability," says Lahutte. Once the significant capital investment is made in the tractor, solar or wind farm, and conversion equipment, the hydrogen fuel could be produced at no cost. To help defray investment costs, excess electric power could be sold to utility companies.
New Holland says there is a long way to go before a fuel cell tractor is ready for market, perhaps by 2013 to 2015.
Challenges include a currently limited operating time between hydrogen refills and the tractor's high cost. The hydrogen tank on the NH2 can hold only enough fuel to power the tractor for one-and-a-half to two hours. New Holland is not talking about price yet, but it is estimated that the fuel cell alone costs $375,000.
While electricity could be used in battery-powered equipment and vehicles, fuel cells have a big advantage. They can be refueled in minutes, compared to batteries which take hours to recharge.
New Holland is calling the NH2 the world's first hydrogen-powered tractor. Actually, Allis-Chalmers built a fuel cell-powered tractor in 1959. Rather than hydrogen, though, it used a mixture of gases, largely propane. After successfully plowing a field of alfalfa, it was retired to the Smithsonian.
(AG)
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