How hydrogen makes construction sites more environmentally friendly

Propulsion How hydrogen makes construction sites more environmentally friendly

2023-06-20 Source: Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft 2 min Reading Time

More and more companies are offering hydrogen burners for construction machinery alongside fuel cells and electric drives. The technology offers some advantages.

Liebherr has already presented a first prototype of the H966 hydrogen engine at Bauma 2022. It powers the Liebherr crawler excavator R9XX H2. The drive technology will also be showcased this year from November 12th to 18th at Systems & Components as part of Agritechnica in Hannover.(Image: Liebherr) — Liebherr has already presented a first prototype of the H966 hydrogen engine at Bauma 2022. It powers the Liebherr crawler excavator R9XX H2. The drive technology will also be showcased this year from November 12th to 18th at Systems & Components as part of Agritechnica in Hannover.
(Image: Liebherr)

The German Agricultural Society DLG has provided insight into current developments regarding hydrogen-powered drives. According to a statement, modern hydrogen engines are based on the well-known and proven combustion technology, making it suitable for a sustainable future.

The advantage is that a hydrogen combustion engine can be installed in the same machine as a diesel engine. It uses the same gearbox, cooling system, and hydraulic system, making it as robust as a conventional diesel engine.

Compared to a fuel cell, a hydrogen burner is more cost-effective and quickly implementable, enabling CO2-free mobility in agricultural settings and on construction sites. Although its efficiency is lower than that of a fuel cell at low and medium loads, it surpasses it at full load. For this reason, the hydrogen burner is particularly suitable for construction machinery, as these are often operated under heavy loads.

Series production by 2025

Challenges with this type of engine include engine knocking and premature ignition. To achieve stable operation without knocking despite high compression, hydrogen engines must be operated with a high excess of air. The energy of a conventional spark plug is reportedly insufficient to ignite this mixture. However, companies like Mahle Jet Ignition (MJI) have solutions ready, burning a small amount of ignitable mixture in a pre-chamber of the cylinder. Tests with Liebherr's H966 and H964 engines are said to have shown good results in terms of combustion speed, performance, and emissions.

Liebherr is also working on further hydrogen-based propulsion technologies such as H2 direct injection (DI). The latter promises higher power density than H2 port injection, making it suitable for demanding heavy-duty applications in the construction and mining industries. Liebherr aims to start serial production of its hydrogen engines by 2025. Bosch is currently working on systems with port or direct injection and is involved in over 100 projects worldwide. For instance, the new injector AFI-LP (Alternative Fuel Injector - Low Pressure) offers direct injection of hydrogen as well as the option to use other fuels such as methanol.

Subscribe to the newsletter now

Don't Miss out on Our Best Content

Business E-mail

Please enter a valid mailadress.

By clicking on „Subscribe to Newsletter“ I agree to the processing and use of my data according to the consent form (please expand for details) and accept the Terms of Use. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy. The consent declaration relates, among other things, to the sending of editorial newsletters by email and to data matching for marketing purposes with selected advertising partners (e.g., LinkedIn, Google, Meta)

Date: 08.12.2025

Naturally, we always handle your personal data responsibly. Any personal data we receive from you is processed in accordance with applicable data protection legislation. For detailed information please see our privacy policy.

Consent to the use of data for promotional purposes

I hereby consent to Vogel Communications Group GmbH & Co. KG, Max-Planck-Str. 7-9, 97082 Würzburg including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG (hereafter: Vogel Communications Group) using my e-mail address to send editorial newsletters. A list of all affiliated companies can be found here

Newsletter content may include all products and services of any companies mentioned above, including for example specialist journals and books, events and fairs as well as event-related products and services, print and digital media offers and services such as additional (editorial) newsletters, raffles, lead campaigns, market research both online and offline, specialist webportals and e-learning offers. In case my personal telephone number has also been collected, it may be used for offers of aforementioned products, for services of the companies mentioned above, and market research purposes.

Additionally, my consent also includes the processing of my email address and telephone number for data matching for marketing purposes with select advertising partners such as LinkedIn, Google, and Meta. For this, Vogel Communications Group may transmit said data in hashed form to the advertising partners who then use said data to determine whether I am also a member of the mentioned advertising partner portals. Vogel Communications Group uses this feature for the purposes of re-targeting (up-selling, cross-selling, and customer loyalty), generating so-called look-alike audiences for acquisition of new customers, and as basis for exclusion for on-going advertising campaigns. Further information can be found in section “data matching for marketing purposes”.

In case I access protected data on Internet portals of Vogel Communications Group including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG, I need to provide further data in order to register for the access to such content. In return for this free access to editorial content, my data may be used in accordance with this consent for the purposes stated here. This does not apply to data matching for marketing purposes.

Right of revocation

I understand that I can revoke my consent at will. My revocation does not change the lawfulness of data processing that was conducted based on my consent leading up to my revocation. One option to declare my revocation is to use the contact form found at https://contact.vogel.de. In case I no longer wish to receive certain newsletters, I have subscribed to, I can also click on the unsubscribe link included at the end of a newsletter. Further information regarding my right of revocation and the implementation of it as well as the consequences of my revocation can be found in the data protection declaration, section editorial newsletter.