New Holland Hydrogen Powered Tractor

February 17, 2010 · Filed Under solutions · 1 Comment 

We have said many times that when finite oil supplies become scarce we will reach a situation of Peak Food because our farming system is now totally dependent on these fossil reserves.

So it’s good to see that at least one major tractor maker is looking to make a tractor that does not run on oil based fuel.

The NH2 tractor is a working prototype with fuel cells that generate 106 horse power. Hydrogen, stored at 350bar in a tank under the bonnet, is passed over one electrode, while oxygen (from an air pump) is passed over the other. The electricity produced by the process then passes to a pair of electric motors, one supplying drive and the other providing power for pto and auxiliary services. Because it runs on hydrogen and oxygen, the tractor’s only by-product is water.

There are at least two problems:

  • Fuel cells are prohibitively expensive, though New Holland hope that commercially viable cells could come on line as soon as 2018!
  • Hydrogen is really an energy storage means and needs an energy source. The conversion of energy into hydrogen, the transportation and storage of the hydrogen and its conversion back into electricity by fuel cells is very inefficient but New Holland has a vision of an energy independent farm that generates electricity on the farm using wind, solar or biogas, and then using an electrolyser to produce hydrogen which is stored in a high pressure tank.

Plainly, developing the tractor and setting up the infrastructure is not going to be a quick solution and may never be viable.  However, we must give New Holland full marks for recognising that fossil powered farming can only be temporary and attempting to come up with an alternative.

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