For the winter season 2020-2021, the Italian company Prinoth will simultaneously present the first hydrogen-powered ski slope preparation machine and a fully battery-electrically powered grooming machine for cross-country trails. Three to four hours of emission-free working As a child I learned to ski in the German Sauerland and then in several ski areas in Austria. Only since student trips to the French Alps did I know that Pistenbully is not a generic name but a brand name. I don't know what the correct designation is in Dutch for the machines that go up the mountain at the end of a beautiful day to tighten the slopes. I do know that the tracked vehicles are powerful machines. Traditionally powered by diesel engines with a power of 400-600HP, good for tens of liters of diesel consumption every day. Hydrogen and batteries are both perfectly fine in this application With dozens of maintenance machines per ski area, the CO2 emissions linked to tight slopes and trails are considerable. Fortunately, the revolution of batteries and electric motors has not gone unnoticed by winter sports. Pistenbully already presented a hybrid model in 2012 and took the first for a fully battery-electric machine in May 2019. Competitor Prinoth will this winter be the first of a fuel cell-powered model. Incidentally, without a hydrogen vs. battery race, the Italian manufacturer also presented a battery-electric machine. The hydrogen-powered Leitwolf H2-Motion (544PK) is intended for the ski slopes, the battery-powered Husky eMotion (270PK) is more compact and intended for cross-country trails. Good distribution, I think. The residual heat produced by a hydrogen fuel cell is a waste of energy in almost every mobile application. However, in the context of a frozen piste, after sunset, at an altitude of 3,000 meters and with often icy winds, I am not at all concerned about the useful use of this residual heat. In the valley, where the trails are unfortunately increasingly the only snow-white ribbons in a lukewarm landscape in winter, it is more effective to produce heat when it is cold one day. This works well with batteries, possibly linked to a heat pump. A new domain in which the electric motor excels Electricity and hydrogen are up faster than diesel Much more important than the choice for hydrogen or just batteries is the step to electric propulsion. A preparation machine naturally drives as much uphill as it does downhill. The electric motor recovers energy on all downhill stretches. Enough to power the snowthrower or to recharge the batteries. The Husky eMotion has a battery of 190 kilowatt hours and thus achieves an operating time of up to 3 hours. Prinoth does not mention the size of the hydrogen tank in the Leitwolf, but this machine can last up to 4 hours on a full tank. Assuming twice as much power, 33% extra operating time and a fuel cell with an efficiency of 65%, I arrive at 780 kilowatt hours of energy content. Then the tank will contain about 24 kilos of hydrogen, four to five times as much as a small hydrogen car. A major additional advantage of the switch to hydrogen or batteries is the relative ease with which electricity can reach a mountain in the Alps. The journey of a liter of diesel may begin in Texas or Saudi Arabia, and before a machine can ride on it at an altitude of 3,000 meters, the energy content of that diesel may have been used two or three times to get the diesel into the preparation machine. The electricity in the Alps mainly comes from reservoirs around the corner and thick cables are already there because of the lifts. So there is no need for a tanker to go up the mountain to supply the locations of the machines. For 20 fuel cell-powered machines, a modest one and a half megawatt electrolyser is enough to meet the daily need for hydrogen. Also perfectly possible on top of a mountain. Very nice developments in short. Can't wait to see the zero-emission piste machines in the wild. Hopefully we can go again around Christmas! Thijs van den Brink https://youtu.be/1Sg_mMkU6i4