Liebherr announces pilot for world’s first large hydrogen wheel loader

Construction and mining equipment giant Liebherr calls its hydrogen-powered wheel loader the first of its kind in the world. Now, the company says its loader will be part of a pilot project at the Kanzelstein quarry in Gratkorn, Austria.

First shown earlier this year at Liebherr’s private test facility, the new project is intended to serve as a proof of concept pilot between Liebherr and STRABAG, Austria’s largest construction company. STRABAG will use the L 566 H wheel loader prototype in a two-year test project.

To refresh your memory, the new Liebherr wheel loader isn’t powered by a fuel-cell. Instead, it’s powered by a specially modified combustion engine that burns hydrogen instead of diesel. The companies estimate the engine would keep up to 100 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from being emitted each year, corresponding to about 37,500 liters of diesel.

“The technology … enables large vehicles that are difficult to electrify due to their high energy demand to be operated without emitting carbon dioxide,” explains Dr.-Ing. Herbert Pfab, technical director of Liebherr.

A hydrogen filling station, supplied by Energie Steiermark, will provide the green hydrogen required to refuel the wheel loader directly at the quarry. 

Electrek’s Take

Earlier this year, MAN Trucks CEO Alexander Vlaskamp told the Spanish-language magazine Expansión (translated from Spanish), “It’s one thing to have the technology and another thing for the technology to be viable. Green hydrogen is not available for transportation and there is no point in switching from diesel to hydrogen if the energy source is not sustainable.”

And that’s a problem, since there are currently no carbon emissions reduction benefits from using hydrogen as a fuel. That’s because the overwhelming majority of those 90 million tons is being produced by natural gas and fossil fuels.

That’s not just my take, either. That’s what Mahle CEO Arnd Franz is telling people.

“We can’t achieve any CO2 emission reductions if you use natural gas or any other fossil sources to produce hydrogen,” Franz is quoted saying. “Today, the overwhelming portion of hydrogen production worldwide is around 90 million tons. That number is going to go up to 130 million tons until 2030. Currently, we have a flourishing and growing portion of that being more sustainable. By more sustainable, I mean blue and, eventually, green hydrogen. In our opinion, [blue hydrogen production is needed] to get the infrastructure going in order to get the ecosystem.”

So, where does that leave Liebherr and its STRABAG project? Do we look at it as a genuine effort to advance (what they think is) promising technology, or do we think it’s a cynical cash-grab for government hydrogen grants?

As if to answer that question, STRABAG CEO Klemens Haselsteiner said, “We want to be climate neutral by 2040 … the only way to achieve this is by consistently and comprehensively saving carbon dioxide, for example, in the operation of construction machinery.”

Scroll on down to the comments and let us know who you believe.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Liebherr, via Heavy Equipment Guide.