Winery fuels tractor with grapevine cuttings

Rising fuel costs inspire a carbon-neutral New Zealand winery owner to become even more sustainable.

Mon, Jan 11 2010 at 10:59 AM

Related Topics:

Alternative Energy, Biofuels, Green Business, Sustainability, Carbon Neutral, Organic & Sustainable Wine

Grove Mill Winery in New Zealand was the world’s first certified carbon-neutral winery. The winery has furthered its sustainability efforts by using grapevine cuttings to fuel one of its tractors.

Decanter reports that when diesel prices started heading to NZ$1.50 litre (which would be the equivalent of about $4.20 USD/gallon), the vineyard spent NZ$15,000 ($11,076 U.S.) to convert one of its tractors to run off the prunings from its vineyards.

It uses a process called gasification, converting the woody cuttings to create a gas, which can be used for fuel.

Initial trials have reduced diesel consumption by as much as 75 percent.

It’s estimated that Grove Mill’s carbon emissions are being cut a little over 0.35 tonnes per hactare a year by the use of this tractor.

For more information on carbon-neutral wineries, including Grove Mill, check out our photo gallery of 7 carbon-neutral wineries around the world.

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