Austrian contractor Strabag and German–Swiss machinery-maker Liebherr have begun a project that will showcase the world’s first-ever hydrogen-powered wheel loaded.
The work in Kanzelstein Quarry, in Gratkorn, Austria, will feature Liebherr’s L566H prototype. The vehicle will be tested over a two-year period, and a “hydrogen station” is being built to refuel it, to be built by energy supplier Energie Steiermark.
The project was launched by a group of notables, including Leonore Gewessler, Austria’s environment minister, Klemens Haselsteiner, Strabag’s chief executive, and Jan Liebherr, chairman of Liebherr International.
Gewessler commended Liebherr’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gases. “I am pleased to see innovative companies pushing ahead with pilot projects, especially in forms of mobility that are difficult to electrify, such as those in the construction sector,” she said.
Herbert Pfab, the technical director of Liebherr, agreed that hydrogen would allow large vehicles that were “difficult to electrify due to their high energy demand” to be operated cleanly.
According to Liebherr, the machine should save up to 100 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year –the amount released by burning 37,500 litres of diesel.
The hydrogen engines, which are made by Liebherr components division’s own engine plant in Bulle, Switzerland, will not only make it possible to emit zero greenhouse gases and almost no nitrogen oxides, but will also offer high levels of efficiency.
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