New Holland’s stand at the 2019 Sima Show featured the company’s latest methane-powered concept tractor, a machine that it says opens the way to the use of alternative fuels in agriculture.
With its Clean Energy Leader strategy, launched in 2006, New Holland pioneered the use of alternative fuels. In 2013, the Brand presented its first T6 Methane Power tractor prototype, which has been further developed and tested with customers in France and other European countries. The methane-powered concept tractor on display at Sima was the synthesis and summit of this development.
It combines visionary design with advanced and sustainable methane combustion – thus guaranteeing extra-low CO2 emissions. The engine has been specifically developed for agricultural applications by FPT Industrial, the powertrain brand of CNH Industrial, and is based on more than 20 years of natural gas experience, with more than 30,000 engines produced for truck and bus applications.
The six-cylinder engine delivers the same power (180hp) and torque (740Nm) as the standard diesel equivalent, and the same durability and service intervals – while providing running cost savings that can reach 30 per cent.
In real-field conditions, this tractor produces at least 10 per cent smaller CO2 emissions and 80 per cent lower pollutant emissions compared to a standard diesel tractor. When fuelled by biomethane produced from renewable sources, the CO2 emissions are virtually zero.
This tractor is a vital link in New Holland’s Energy Independent Farm concept, a sustainable closed-loop virtuous cycle of farming: from fields to energy generation, and back to fields. The process reduces environmental impact allowing a safe and productive use of agricultural or animal waste (as well as specifically-grown energy crops), and produces fuel-grade biomethane in anaerobic digester plants. Excess energy may used to generate electricity to power local communities or be sold to the grid, while the by-products of biodigestion are natural fertilisers for the farm’s fields.
For more information visit: www.newholland.com.
