FPT Industrial is one of the stars of the grape harvest festival at Fontanafredda

• FPT Industrial was one of the stars at the #Renaissance Grape Harvest Festival, held early September in the setting of the Fontanafredda estate at Serralunga d’Alba (Cuneo, Italy)
• The Barolo grapes were harvested with the help of the first New Holland TK Metahne powered crawler vineyard prototype tractor

The grapes of the Vigna La Rosa cru, which yield a Barolo included in the Wine Spectator Top 100, were harvested with the aid of the first prototype New Holland TK Methane Power crawler vineyard tractor with biomethane-fueled FPT Industrial F28 Natural Gas engine.

Launched in February 2021, the partnership is between FPT Industrial, New Holland Agriculture and Fontanafredda, the historic winery founded by the first King of Italy in 1858, which currently has 120 hectares of certified organic vineyards, forms part of the Green Renaissance project, launched to promote best-practice grape cultivation with no environmental impact.

Recently named “Engine of the Year 2020” thanks to its modular, multi-propulsion approach, the FPT Industrial F28 engine, already at work at the Fontanafredda estate in its biomethane configuration, has a carbon footprint of zero, since the biomethane that powers the engine is not a fossil fuel, but is produced by the anaerobic digestion of agricultural waste.

Attendees at the event enjoyed a close-hand view of both the FPT Industrial F28 NG biomethane engine and the prototype New Holland TK Methane Power crawler vineyard tractor, the star of the first zero-emission Barolo harvest, at the brand’s stand set up on the estate for the occasion.

“We are very proud of our partnership with Fontanafredda and to be working with them on this project, which brings together Italian products of excellence: Barolo wine, constantly rated one of the world’s best, and the leading-edge sustainable technology of our Italian-built engines,” comments Carlo Moroni, Head of Communication at FPT Industrial.

“While we wait for the first zero-emissions Fontanafredda Barolo to age in the wood so we can drink to this truly unique project – it will take about four years – I’d like to underline that our biomethane engines are available as of now, ready to reduce environmental impact not only in agriculture but also in short, medium and long-range transport applications.”

The three-year partnership between FPT Industrial and Fontanafredda is supported by the Piedmont Region’s Tobias Project with contributions from New Holland Agriculture, CNH Industrial and local businesses.