CASE Construction Equipment has introduced a dedicated methane-powered wheel loader, the 621G Methane, specifically engineered for large-scale agricultural and biogas plant operations. While electric and hydrogen powertrains dominate the zero-emission conversation in urban environments, remote agricultural sites often lack the high-voltage charging infrastructure required to support heavy electric fleets. CASE's methane platform capitalizes on a fuel source that is already abundant on these sites: captured biogas derived from livestock waste.
The loader is powered by a modified 6.7-liter FPT Industrial engine designed specifically for compressed biomethane. The engine utilizes a stoichiometric combustion process with multi-point gas injection, delivering the same 115 kW of power and 600 Nm of torque as its diesel counterpart, ensuring no loss of breakout force when handling heavy silage or manure. Because the biomethane is captured from the farm's own anaerobic digesters-gas that would otherwise be flared or released into the atmosphere as methane-the loader achieves a carbon-negative operational footprint.
To solve the refueling logistics, CASE integrated an automated, high-flow gas compression and filling station directly at the digester site. The loader's onboard tanks are constructed from a lightweight, Type IV composite material, allowing them to store gas at 250 bar without adding excessive rear-axle weight. The tanks can be refilled in under five minutes, providing up to 8 hours of continuous heavy-load operation.
By closing the energy loop on the farm, agricultural contractors can now execute earthmoving, feed mixing, and waste management tasks entirely independent of diesel supply chains. This biomethane architecture proves that heavy equipment decarbonization can be achieved using localized, circular economies rather than relying solely on grid infrastructure.
