New Holland methane tractor ready to roll
It’s all systems go for New Holland’s T6 Methane Power tractor, with the first production units expected to roll out in the first half of 2021New Holland’s methane tractor concept first made its debut back in 2013, and after several refinements and countless trials, it is ready to hit the global market this year.
The first production unit of the T6 Methane Power tractor was presented at the Agritechnica show in 2019. Field trials are currently in the final stages and New Holland expects production units to be delivered to selected customers in Germany, France, Italy, the UK and the Benelux – all key markets for the T6 tractor where biogas production is advanced - by the first half of the year.
The methane-powered tractor will enter the New Holland range by the end of the year, and be available to all customers in Europe and other markets across the world.
The 180hp tractor is part of New Holland’s Clean Energy Leader strategy that aims to consolidate the company’s leadership in alternative fuels.
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“We have pioneered sustainable, innovative solutions for some 14 years,” said New Holland Brand President, Carlo Lambro.
“We developed the Energy-Independent Farm model, showing how a closed-loop between agricultural production and energy generation can make farming CO2-neutral, or even carbon negative – with significant benefits for our customers.
“This year we are taking a further step into turning this into a reality, as our methane-powered tractor enters the New Holland range.”
New Holland claims its methane powered tractor produces at least 10 per cent less carbon dioxide emissions and reduces overall emissions by 80 per cent compared to a standard diesel tractor.
But more importantly, it uses methane as fuel, which is produced from crop residues, food scraps, animal waste and more. Methane is widely known as a potent greenhouse gas that is significantly contributing to climate change, so powering the farm using methane not only eliminates waste on-farm, but is much friendlier to the environment too.
However, the gas needs to be processed via a biodigester before it can be used as fuel, which is viable for countries such as Germany and France with advanced methane processing facilities, but tricky for other parts of the world with less resources in place for biogas production.
In addition to the methane powered T6 tractor, New Holland is also exploring a methane-powered specialist tractor and implement electrification as part of its Clean Energy Leader program.
For the methane vineyard tractor project, New Holland has partnered up with Italian Barolo wine producer, Fontanafredda, to test a new bio-methane tractor derived from a standard New Holland TK model.
It is powered by the new FPT Industrial F28 engine that was crowned Diesel of the Year in 2020. By embarking on this project, New Holland hopes to achieve the first CO2-free wine production, which is an important step towards the decarbonisation of the grape growing chain.
In another partnership, New Holland has developed an innovative concept for the electrification of implements for vineyards and orchards with the help of Italian implements producer, Nobili.
It combines the New Holland T4.110V with an e-Source external generator compliant with AEF High Voltage guidelines to power the new e-Sprayer and e-Mulcher.
This innovation received a Technical Innovation 2020/21 Award at EIMA International.
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