FPT Industrial, 2023 GRAPE HARVEST FESTIVAL IN FONTANAFREDDA: WITH FPT INDUSTRIAL AND CHEF DALIA RIVOLTA, BEING SUSTAINABLE IS TASTIER
FPT Industrial, the Iveco Group brand dedicated to the design, production and sale of low-environmental impact powertrains, is confirming its commitment to the sustainability of all its processes and products, as well as the need to communicate ecological topics in all areas, by participating once again in the 2023 initiatives put on by partner Fontanafredda within the framework of the Green Renaissance project.
For the third consecutive year, FPT Industrial will indeed be taking a leading role at the Grape Harvest Festival held on the 9th of September in the charming setting of the Fontanafredda wine estate in Serralunga d’Alba in Italy’s Piedmont region. The event will include guided visits, tastings of dishes cooked by Michelin-starred chefs, open-air concerts, and the traditional crushing of the grapes.
FPT Industrial’s presence at this important event will focus on sustainability, which this year will be expressed through the third Barolo grape harvest with net zero emissions.
As for the 2021 and 2022 vintages, the New Holland TK Methane Power crawler tractor with biomethane-fueled FPT Industrial F28 Natural Gas engine will harvest and transport to the cellar the precious grapes of the Vigna La Rosa, the estate’s cru which produces the finest Nebbiolo da Barolo grapes, yielding the Barolo included in the Wine Spectator Top 100. The partnership between FPT Industrial and Fontanafredda has thus enabled the creation of the world’s first and currently only Barolo with zero CO2 emissions, the first bottles of which will be ready for drinking in 2025.
The biomethane-fueled New Holland TK Methane Power crawler tractor with FPT Industrial F28 Natural Gas engine designed for Fontanafredda was developed on the basis of a standard New Holland Agriculture model. It can provide a power output of 75 hp with a peak torque of 330 Nm and can therefore ensure performances absolutely comparable to those of the diesel model, even on the steepest slopes and on the slippery terrains typical of the finest vineyards in Italy’s Langhe wine-growing district. All with 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.
Engines powered by alternative fuels with zero emissions, such as biomethane and hydrogen, and electrification are two of the main directions in which FPT Industrial’s commitment to sustainability is developing. A commitment further reinforced by the October 2022 inauguration of the zero-emission ePowertrain plant in Turin, where FPT Industrial manufactures e-axles, battery packs and BMSs for commercial vehicles, buses and minibuses, was well as the electric axles for the new, 100%-electric Maserati Gran Turismo Folgore.
At the brand’s stand set up on the estate for the occasion, all visitors will be able to view the biomethane-powered F28 Natural Gas engine and attend the show-cooking sessions by Dalia Rivolta, star of MasterChef Italia 11. The chef from Turin will produce finger food inspired by the theme of sustainability, created around Fontanafredda Barolo and FPT Industrial honey produced at the Industrial Plant Biomonitoring Station in the Turin production district and already a prize-winner at the 15th “Ferrere Miele” Regional Honey Awards.
Launched in February 2021, the three-year 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 zero environmental impact.
The partnership is supported by the Piedmont Region’s Tobias Project, which promotes biomethane-powered traction to enable a circular production chain in specialist agriculture, with contributions fro