• Stanford researchers have devised a way to generate hydrogen fuel using solar power, electrodes and saltwater from San Francisco Bay.

  • The Chinese are now also getting involved in future tractors. With the new e-tractor named ET504-H they want to position themselves accordingly in the market. They also want to make agricultural machinery more environmentally friendly.

    Sporting a futuristic appearance, the model ET504-H tractor adopts 5G mobile communication technology, has a self-driving mode, and can be remotely controlled. The future tractor is co-developed by Luoyang Research Institute for Intelligent Agricultural Equipment Co., Ltd. ( CHIAIC) and Luoyang advanced manufacturing industry R&D base of Tsinghua University’s Tianjin Research Institute for Advanced Equipment.

    Tractor manufacturer YTO involved
    The largest Chinese tractor manufacturer YTO is also involved in the development. Some parts of the prototype were manufactured by YTO. YTO says that CHIAIC will continue to pour efforts into developing new energy unmanned tractors, get ahead in such key technologies as unmanned driving and electric control, and create new energy unmanned equipment in the field of agricultural machinery.

    Fully electric
    The ET504_H tractor has a main permanent-magnet, synchronous mid-motor and independent electric lifting and steering motors. The hydrogen fuel cell operates when the tractor does not require its full power, while under heavy load, the lithium battery will add further power supply. The electric driveline can deliver 50 horsepower with a maximum speed of 30 kilometers per hour ( 18 miles per hour).

    Unmanned cluster technology
    The ET504-H tractor has been developed from the outset to be able to drive without a driver. For this purpose, the tractor relies on the 5G network from China Mobile and also uses GPS antenna, millimetre-wave radar and large data technology for remote control. This navigation technology can perceive the running state of the vehicle and surrounding working environment in real-time. It takes advantage of 5G features such as high speed, low delay and large connection volume, and combines them with intelligent unmanned cluster technology to effectively improve the reliability of agricultural machinery operations and provide consumers with higher quality services.

    No clear market plan
    “With this tractor we want to give local demonstrations to show that an autonomous tractor running on hydrogen is possible in farming practice”, says Huang Shengcao, Deputy General Manager of CHIAIC. “With this tractor we want to give local demonstrations to show that an autonomous tractor running on hydrogen is possible in farming practice”, says Huang Shengcao, Deputy General Manager of CHIAIC. ‘’The ET504-H tractor has now completed a series of trials in production and marketing. But due to current impact of the high battery cost, there is no clear sales plan yet. However, that can change quickly if the costs for the batteries drop.”

    More hydrogen-powered tractors
    Research has been conducted for some time into agricultural tractors that run on hydrogen with fuel cells. New Holland Agriculture released its first ever hydrogen-powered NH2 tractor in 2009, which was after then in service on farms in Europe by 2012. But due limited availability of the fuel and high production costs , it has never made it commercially viable.

  • Solar panels, wind turbines and lithium-ion batteries are setting the world on course towards a clean energy future.

  • Farming is one of the world’s most critical industries, but it’s far from sustainable. U.S. agriculture emitted 698 million metric tons of greenhouse gasses in 2018, accounting for 10.5% of all carbon emissions in the nation.

  • What is hydrogen used for?

  • Clean energy is a top priority for countries worldwide. While conventional power relies on fossil fuels like coal, natural gas, and oil, clean energy comes in various forms such as solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, and biomass.

  • Today's is a world whose theme of environmental sustainability is also often linked to communication dynamics, especially when analyzing the theme of road transport which is often the subject of questionable and contradictory analyses.

  • Coal has been rightfully branded a dirty fuel source as burning it in large quantities drives climate change and pollutes the air. Yet soon it could help us with a clean energy transition by serving as storage for hydrogen to power transportation, electricity generation and manufacturing.

  • The hydrogen sector has the capacity to create more than 30,000 jobs by 2040 — or so the Green Energy Africa Summit heard this week.