The death of the Tractor’s Diesel Engine

For decades now we have been aware that the supply of oil will at some stage run out. But the world’s population will still need to be fed and food will need to be produced in even greater quantities to meet a growing population. In short, with ever more dire predictions about how much longer oil is going to last, there are some seriously big elephants in the room, when it comes to working out how long we can continue to feed the world’s growing population for when our agriculture is so dependent on oil to produce food.
With intensive farming so dependent on diesel oil. How can this dilemma be resolved? Well, for years solar power has been touted as the answer to all our problems, however the possibility of a solar powered 150 horsepower tractor was never a reality.
Then came biofuels which held grate promise. Again, the reality of the biofuels equation did not add up in practice. As vast tracts of land were turned over to the production of biofuels it became apparent that less food could be produced from a finite amount of land. The recent rise in price of food commodities caused a great furore and brought the “food vs. fuel” to the fore and recently.
Iveco, in partnership with New Holland, announced that they will launch a Fuel Cell tractor in early 2009. Called the NH2, the normal Diesel engine, has been replaced by a Fuel Cell, which has the potential to wean farms off their dependence on oil - soon you might be seeing ‘zero-carbon’ foodstuffs, alongside your Fairtrade and Organics. Assuming that they can be transported from field to plate in a carbon natural way.
The idea of producing Fuel Cell tractors has been kicking around for quite a while, but the recent hike in oil prices brought into sharp focus the needs for oil alternatives. In 1959 the tractor manufacturer, Allis Chalmers produced the first Fuel Cell powered tractor, however, after the demo of ploughing a field of Alfalfa, it ended up in a museum, and got no further.
The vehicle’s only emission will be water. The hydrogen will possibly be generated on farm using maybe water electrolysis technology; using electricity possibly supplied by renewable sources such as solar or wind power.
The chemical reaction that takes place in the cell is converted into electrical power, which is then stored in one of three lithium ion batteries. This electrical will then be used to drive an electric transmission.
The new exterior styling of the tractor is similar to that included on the retro Fiat tractor concept shown at the Italian EIMA show recently
What’s great about this development is that New Holland has the capability and distribution network to transform agriculture completely by de-carbonising one element of the food supply chain. Stay tuned this may very revolutionize farming