NH tractor powered by methane goes on sale
First unveiled in 2023, New Holland has announced the addition of the T7.270 Methane Power CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) tractor to the recently expanded T7 Range.
Using methane produced by capturing dairy herd effluent makes perfect sense, but the tricky part is capturing the gas before cleaning and compressing it ready for storage, thereby removing multiple storage vessels around the tractor.
Bennamann, based in the southwest of England, was founded in 2011 and over the ensuing years developed a circular model which reclaims fugitive methane from cattle and uses it to
The next part of the equation will be the development of methane capture at a commercial level on-farm, now being addressed with the resources that New Holland can bring to the table.
Already, development has led to the introduction of the world’s first liquefied fugitive methane tractor prototype, the New Holland T7 Methane Power LNG, which is operationally carbon negative when fuelled using Bennamann’s system. Research has found that a 120-cow farm operating our shared methane capture technology can reduce the CO2 equivalent of 100 western European households – about 780 tons annually.
Looking at the science of Liquified Fugitive Methane more closely, 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 such as construction sites.
