MEAD, Neb. — Husker scientists have a pair of new tractors to break in, and they could some day be fueled by farmers as New Holland donates methane-powered equipment to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
CNH donated two New Holland T6.180 methane-powered tractors through the University of Nebraska Foundation. UNL unveiled the bright-blue tractors May 5 outside the NFarms facility at the Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center (ENREEC) near Mead. Each tractor has a retail value of $287,240, according to the university.
“This is huge for the university, a partnership with a company like New Holland,” Joe Luck said. “We don’t always have the funding to go out and purchase platforms like this. Something that’s unique, a methane or a natural gas fuel tractor, it’s just really incredible.”
Luck is interim head of the Department of Biological Systems Engineering. He said having the tractors on a working farm will help researchers study fuel use and performance in day-to-day operations. He noted the technology is still rare in Nebraska.
“To be able to put these in a real operation, where then we can study the efficiency of the system … is something we’ve not had an opportunity to do,” Luck said. “There’s only three of these tractors in the entire state of Nebraska right now, two here now, one at the airport, so it’s a huge opportunity for us to provide good information to folks on what these could look like in a real-world operation.”
The donation was facilitated by Andy Dozler, manufacturing engineering manager at CNH’s plant in Grand Island and a 2004 UNL graduate, the university said. CNH said its Grand Island plant employs more than 600 people.
UNL said the tractors will start out running on compressed natural gas while the university explores how on-farm biomethane production could support equipment like this in the future.
Josh Richardson of New Holland points out it’s powered by fuel that could be made right here on the farm.
“Methane is readily available from dairies or swine production, or landfills, or just compressed natural gas,” he said.
New Holland says the goal is simple: provide the horsepower farmers expect while cutting emissions and giving farmers another fuel option. If a livestock operation can capture methane and refine it into biomethane, it can turn a waste stream into tractor fuel.
Richardson said, “Diesel fuel prices are going up and being able to catch that methane and put it back into something that is a renewable resource is where we really wanted to go.”
Researchers are anxious to put the machines to work, seeing how they run.
Luck said, “As we think about the future, energy is a part of that. So how does energy play into these systems? How are we integrating alternative fuel sources to run our operations, eliminate more waste off the farm? This donation really puts us square in the middle of that as we think about how to develop a model farm for others to consider.”
UNL says the tractors will start out running on compressed natural gas but the long-term research focus is biomethane and what it could mean for farms looking to turn waste into energy.