New Holland Agriculture, a major producer of farming equipment, revealed the T7 Methane Power LNG tractor, which runs on cow dung. This innovative tractor, developed in collaboration with the British company Bennamann, has the same power and torque as a diesel tractor but emits significantly less pollution.
The T7 Methane Power LNG technology lets farmers gather cow dung as slurry and pump it into big tanks or covered lagoons rather than utilizing it directly as fertilizer. These clumps of cow dung are fed by anaerobic microbes, which create biogas, primarily methane.
This gas may then be collected and converted into biomethane, which can be used on farms in place of natural gas. Furthermore, biomethane may be compressed and liquefied to create LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), which must be kept in cryogenic tanks at -162°C. The LNG can be marketed as a product or directly utilized to power a specially designed engine, while the solid waste from gas production is used as fertilizer.
The T7 Methane Power LNG is a prototype tractor, but New Holland says it is the world’s first tractor built to run on LNG, allowing farmers to produce their own fuel.
Previous research has revealed that biomethane production and selling will be economically viable only if there are at least 3,600 cattle, as biogas purification and liquefaction need expensive equipment. Bennamann tackles this challenge by offering a mobile unit that can be transported from farm to farm and regularly converts collected biogas into LNG. It also supplies cryogenic tank systems to retain LNG at low temperatures.
The amount of LNG that can be obtained from a given number of cows, as well as the time it takes for such a system to become profitable, varies greatly depending on factors such as the cattle’s breed and diet, as well as the amount of time spent on pasture where manure is difficult to collect in barns or stables. Individual management will determine whether such a system makes sense. Bennamann, on the other hand, claims that the method is “intended to be economically feasible for cattle farms of any size.”
While the T7 Methane Power LNG process is environmentally friendly, it is not totally clean. In the short term, methane is a considerably more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, yet tractor exhaust still contains carbon dioxide. However, there are enormous environmental benefits to efficiently capturing large volumes of methane and converting it to carbon dioxide rather than burning the fossil fuels that power the tractors.
New Holland Agriculture thinks that the T7 Methane Power LNG will boost productivity and sustainability by allowing farmers to control their operations and make data-driven choices. The company’s revolutionary approach to agricultural equipment reduces emissions and provides farmers with a cost-effective and sustainable way to power their tractors.
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