Finding ways to reduce emissions is all the rage yet what if there was a way to not only hit carbon neutral but surpass it.
That's part of the value proposition the New Holland T7 Methane Power LNG tractor brings to the table.
It is the world's first tractor to be powered by liquefied natural gas generated from methane.
The pre-production prototype was one of the headline acts at the CNH Industrial Tech Day held at the University of Arizona's Maricopa Agricultural Center earlier this month.
It builds on New Holland's work with the T6 Methane Power CNG, which is already available in the European market.
The T7 Methane Power LNG has a 201 kilowatt (270 horsepower) engine and has not lost any of the power of its diesel-fuelled counterpart.
As the LNG is stored in a stainless steel cryogenic tank, it offers a fourfold increase in fuel capacity compared to the alternative fuels T6.
The active temperature-controlled system insulates the fuel and keeps the engine running smoothly.
A full eight-hour day of run time using high power demanding implements can be catered for with the amount of LNG stored.
Through its partnership with Bennamann, CNH Industrial is also working on a circular economy plan for dairy farmers and livestock producers.
Bennamann is able to prevent methane from entering the atmosphere and convert it into liquefied fugitive methane, which can be used to fuel the T7 Methane Power LNG.
Livestock manure is collected and transferred to a covered slurry pit or tank.
The fugitive methane is able to be captured and then processed into liquefied methane.
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However, not every farm suits the Bennamann system and creating the infrastructure to transport and store LNG on farms is a hurdle that's yet to be overcome.
New Holland global president Carlo Lambro said while it was not their core business, they were working with potential partners on solutions to this problem.
Mr Lambro said within the next 18 months there could be prototypes going around the world but he did not expect the tractor to be commercially released in the next two to three years.
"We are already in the phase to have developed the engine, which is suitable for methane but probably the game-changer is really the infrastructure," he said.
"The tractor is the last piece; the first piece is how you generate methane, how you store it, how you get it to the farmer and then the last piece, how you can use it for moving machine."
New Holland Agriculture global tractors product management leader Oscar Baroncelli said the target was to lower carbon dioxide emissions and increase farm productivity.
Mr Baroncelli said alternative fuel tractors had a number of benefits including operating cost savings of up to 30 per cent, a noise reduction of 50pc and cutting particulate matter by up to 98pc.
Depending on where the LNG was sourced from, he said there were several types of CO2 reduction.
"If you're going to use fossil methane from the grid, it is -11 per cent. If you're going to use biomethane from water treatment, from waste, from sugar cane, it is -80pc," Mr Baroncelli said
"In the case where you are using biomethane, captured from the biogas, it will be -180pc.
"You are going to be carbon negative; basically, by using the tractor you are cleaning the environment."
Mr Baroncelli said diesel was going to stay a very important energy source for both farm and construction operations but the world was at a point of inflection.
He said customers would like to be ready in advance of new emissions regulations coming into force.
"We need to be sure this technology is going to deliver a clear and measurable return on investment for our customers," he said.
"All these kinds of technologies are going to have the same performance in terms of power and torque of a diesel equivalent."
- The writer travelled as a guest of CNH Industrial.
