CNH Industrial has expanded its alternative fuel capabilities by taking a majority stake in Bennamann – a UK-based expert in solutions to capture, repurpose and store fugitive methane emissions for energy use. In conjunction with CNH Industrial equipment, Bennamann’s infrastructure delivers a carbon-negative system that fully supports a circular economy in farming.
“By consolidating our share in Bennamann, we’re offering our customers a full energy production, storage and distribution service,” the president of agriculture at CNH Industrial, Derek Neilson, said. “This solution can transform farms into mini energy hubs that can satisfy their own energy needs, produce their own natural fertiliser and sell any excess gas on the open market.
“It also enables them to generate their own electricity. This makes us a true alternative energy enabler, able to serve myriad applications and contribute to a carbon negative future.”
Reducing emissions such as methane and CO2 from biowaste and operations is one of agriculture’s greatest environmental issues. To help farmers meet this challenge, CNH Industrial has been pioneering sustainable alternative power solutions in agriculture for over two decades, including the world’s first tractor running on compressed natural gas – the New Holland T6.180 Methane Power. Alternative fuels and electrification can enhance a farmer’s operational flexibility, efficiency, and even profitability, while dramatically offsetting their carbon footprint.
CNH Industrial’s relationship with Bennamann began in 2019 when the two companies jointly developed a liquefied natural gas fuel tank for a tractor prototype. In 2021, CNH Industrial’s ventures investment arm acquired a minority stake in the business.
The companies’ shared technologies are being trialled on a pilot farm in the UK, where fugitive emissions from farm biowaste – specifically livestock slurry – are purified into biomethane that’s subsequently either compressed or liquefied. Both forms can be used as vehicle fuel, to generate electricity and even supply household or farm power, while the byproducts of the conversion process can be used as a natural fertiliser.
In total, the system provides energy independence for the farm, reduces input costs and potentially generates additional revenue streams. This work also led to the introduction of the world’s first liquefied fugitive methane tractor prototype, the New Holland T7 Methane Power LNG. This is operationally carbon negative when fueled by Bennamann’s system.
The system has now progressed beyond the prototype phase and will install the CNH Industrial/Bennamann solution on multiple farms this year. This will begin with compressed fugitive methane solutions, moving to liquefied in the future.
Due to its high energy density, liquefied methane (a natural gas) is much easier to store and efficiently distribute than renewable energy sources such as hydrogen and compressed natural gas. This makes liquefied methane a direct and suitable replacement for fossil fuels in high power applications, even in the most remote locations.
