The precious grapes of the Vigna La Rosa cru, which yield a Barolo included in the Wine Spectator Top 100, will be 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 between FPT Industrial, the world’s top producer of low environmental impact engines, 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.

Everyone attending the Grape Harvest Festival will enjoy 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.

Fontanafredda, producer of Barolo and great wines from the Langhe district, based at Serralunga d’Alba. Founded in 1858 as a consequence of the love affair between Victor Emmanuel II, first King of Italy, and Rosa Vercellana, our winery has always been a community united around respect for the land. We now have 120 hectares of certified ORGANIC vineyards, the setting for Italy’s first Storytelling Village. www.fontanafredda.it 

FPT Industrial is a brand of CNH Industrial, dedicated to the design, production and sales of drives systems for On-Road and Off-Road vehicles, as well as marine and Power Generation applications. The company has more than 8,000 employees around the world, ten production plants and seven R&D centers. The FPT Industrial sales network is made up of 73 dealerships and about 800 service centers in almost 100 countries. The brand boasts an extremely vast range of products that includes six engine families with power that goes from 42 HP to 1,006 HP, transmissions with maximum torque from 200 Nm to 500 Nm and 2 to 32 ton gross axle weight (GAW) front and rear axles. FPT Industrial offers the most complete line-up of natural gas engines on the market for industrial applications, with power that goes from 136 to 460 HP. This vast range of products and the great attention dedicated to R&D make FPT Industrial a global leader in the industrial engines segment. For more information, go to www.fptindustrial.com