New Holland's NH2 fuel cell tractor has been unveiled in Turin, Italy, Farmers Weekly Interactive reports.

It is the first time that a fuel cell tractor has been put on display by a manufacturer, although the model is not due to start testing for another two years.

The tractor, which is based on a T6000 version, uses hydrogen and oxygen as a fuel source and is therefore significantly more environmentally-friendly than fossil-fuelled alternatives.

While electricity is needed to electrolise water into hydrogen and oxygen to provide fuel for the fuel cell tractor, it is hoped that this will eventually be produced using wind, solar or biomass-powered generators.

New Holland believes farms' natural advantage in terms of location makes this solution particularly viable.

Production models are scheduled to be made available by 2013, although early fuel cell tractors are likely to be expensive due to the high cost of sourcing a fuel cell.

New Holland was recently awarded a gold medal at the Sima Innovation Awards for its NH2 hydrogen-powered tractor design.



New Holland's fuel cell tractor breaks cover in Italy (07/02/09)
http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2009/02/07/114186/fw-exclusive-new-hollands-fuel-cell-tractor-breaks-cover-in-italy.html

New Holland Hydrogen fuel cell tractor: Exclusive pictures from the launch (07/02/09)
http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2009/02/07/114189/new-holland-hydrogen-fuel-cell-tractor-exclusive-pictures-from-the-launch.html

New Holland’s innovations reduce costs and increase efficiency (19/12/09)
http://agriculture.newholland.com/uk/en/WNH/news/Pages/reducecostsandincreaseefficiency_news.aspx