By Charlotte Tonkin
A Marlborough vineyard has come up with an ingenious way of reducing its carbon footprint. In a New Zealand first, it's turning its vine prunings into sustainable fuel.
"I thought the biggest job would be convincing anyone that this would actually work, this crazy idea of turning vine prunings into tractor power was viable," says Kevin Palmer, the project's engineer.
The crazy idea works through the process of gasification. The vine prunings are starved of oxygen when they're heated. The charcoaled clippings then produce flammable gas, which makes the tractor go.
Despite initial misgivings about the $15,000 dollar project, the team at Grove Mill is positive about pioneering the project.
"I'm confident it will work on our home block here," says Craig Fowles, sustainability co-ordinator. "It is only 14 hectares of 120, but it's a start."
Each year the Blenheim vineyard can produce 240 tonnes of prunings. A 300kg bale of prunings will make the equivalent of 100l of diesel, which is enough to power the tractor for about a week.
Although the tractor still uses some diesel, it's a quarter of what it would without its sustainable counterpart.
While Grove Mill's ethos makes saving the environment one of its top priorities, eventually gasification could also be saving them money - especially if the price of fuel rises.
"There's always something you can do with waste," says viticulturist Doug Holmes. "The more you think about it, the more things will come out of it."
While this machine's just a prototype, it is hoped other vineyards will soon get in line with Grove Mill and make the most of their own free fuel.
3 News