Hydrogen tractor project targets lower-carbon farming
Tractor maker STEYR is working with TU Wien and several technology partners on a hydrogen-powered farming project that could offer farmers a lower-carbon alternative to diesel machinery.
The HYTRAC research project combines a hydrogen internal combustion engine tractor with on-farm hydrogen production, storage and refuelling infrastructure. The aim is to test whether hydrogen can support demanding agricultural work while reducing emissions and giving farms greater control over their energy supply.
Led by TU Wien, the project is funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency and Austria’s Climate and Energy Fund. A real-world demonstration is planned at the Energy Hub Neusiedl in Neusiedl am See, Austria, where the tractor and hydrogen system will be assessed together.
At the centre of the project is a research tractor based on a conventional STEYR Expert model. It uses a direct-injection hydrogen internal combustion engine, known as H₂ ICE, and an electric power-split eCVT transmission developed by VDS Holding GmbH. A high-voltage battery from Voltfactory GmbH is designed to help power implements electrically.
STEYR says the system is intended to deliver comparable continuous power to the donor tractor, with zero emissions at the point of use and operating times suited to modern farm work. The wider system, called COMBHY, links hydrogen production, compression, storage and refuelling.
The project will examine how farms could make hydrogen from existing renewable resources, including plant residues, wind and solar power. Its energy hub will also use data-led management to match fuel production with demand.
Franz Josef Silber, global product marketing at STEYR, said the project looks beyond the tractor powertrain to “a fully integrated farm energy ecosystem”. Johannes Konrad, assistant professor at TU Wien, said testing machinery, energy infrastructure and farm operations together would be essential to understanding hydrogen’s role in agricultural carbon reduction.
For UK farmers and contractors watching rising fuel costs and pressure to cut emissions, HYTRAC remains at the research stage. STEYR has not announced a production timetable, but says further details on scalability and possible seriesproduction will follow.
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