CNH brands Iveco, New Holland and FPT (Fiat Power Trains) have come together with a major French supermarket and a gas-handling expert to create what they are calling a “methane-based circular economy”. It is being undertaken on a vegetable farm in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of France.

The theory behind this is that a digester on the farm is used to create biomethane from the byproducts and waste from the vegetable-growing enterprise.

Fleet

The fleet of vehicles is then powered by the gas produced – trucks from Iveco are used to transport the produce to the supermarket, a New Holland T6 180 running on methane does the work on the farm and even at the launch event for the trial the buses transporting the people on to the farm were powered using the biomethane produced on-site.

The tractor can reduce CO2 by 10% and other emissions by 80%. The reduction in carbon dioxide reaches 95% when using biomethane, perfect for creating the cycle for an energy-independent company and site.

This is a project well worth keeping an eye on to see if there is scope for similar systems on Irish farms