The Liebherr hydrogen wheel loader being tested by Strabag could lead to significant savings in emissions and fuel use for earthmoving companies
A large hydrogen-powered wheel loader is undergoing a trial at a quarry in Austria, in a move that has been described as an important step towards decarbonising construction sites.
Strabag, an Austrian construction company, is testing Liebherr’s large hydrogen-powered wheel loader at the Kanzelstein quarry in Gratkorn over a period of two years.
The L566H wheel loader is the world’s first large wheel loader with a hydrogen engine, Liebherr says, and for the next two years, Strabag will be testing the prototype on a daily basis.
A hydrogen filling station is being built to refuel the wheel loader directly at the quarry and energy supplier Energie Steiermark will provide the green hydrogen required.
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The large wheel loader should save up to 100 tonnes of CO2 each year, corresponding to about 37,500 litres of diesel.
“We want to be climate neutral by 2040,” Strabag CEO Klemens Haselsteiner says.
“The only way to achieve this is by consistently and comprehensively saving CO2, for example, in the operation of construction machinery.”
The hydrogen engines are manufactured by the Liebherr components division’s own engine plant in Bulle, Switzerland.
These engines will not only make it possible to emit zero greenhouse gases and almost no nitrogen oxides, but will also offer excellent efficiency, the company says.
“The technology also enables large vehicles that are difficult to electrify due to their high energy demand to be operated without CO2,” Liebherr technical director Herbert Pfab says.