A tractor powered by livestock manure 

New Holland Agriculture has unveiled the world’s first cow-manure-powered tractor

Spotted: Carbon dioxide isn’t the only gas that’s damaging the planet. Methane is, in fact, responsible for around 20 per cent of global greenhouse gases in the air today. As New Holland Agriculture recognises, capturing and repurposing this gas is vital to securing a green future, which is why it has partnered up with UK-based Bennamann to create a manure-powered tractor. Because cow manure is a large source of this greenhouse gas, the new T7 Methane Power LNG (Liquified Neutral Gas) tractor significantly reduces emissions without losing any power or torque.

The tractor is designed so that farmers may make their own fuel. First, farmers collect as much cow excrement as possible before pumping it into large tanks or covered lagoons. Once organisms consume the manure, they then produce a biogas that mainly contains methane, which can either be purified or compressed and liquified. This can then be used to run the tractor.  

Whilst this process is not entirely clean, it captures methane emissions and transforms them into carbon dioxide emissions, which are 25 times less potent at trapping heat. This makes using this tractor a lot more environmentally friendly: “The CO2 reduction for a 120-cow farm is potentially equivalent to around 100 western households,” according to New Holland. 

Presently, the T7 Methane Power LNG is a pre-production prototype tractor. 

Springwise has previously spotted other innovations that use and repurpose manure, including a plant that converts it into heat and electricity, a device that turns it into fertiliser, and a farm that uses it to power production.

Written By: Georgia King