Agricultural machinery manufacturers present ethanol engines at Agrishow

The ethanol engine from AGCO, a group that includes the brands Valtra, Massey Ferguson, and Fendt — Photo Eliane Silva Globo Rural The bet on biofuels for heavy vehicles has been growing as production costs and the demand for more sustainable operations increase. In the midst of a war in the Middle East that has raised the price of fossil fuels and further increased the pressure on the profitability of Brazilian rural producers, major agricultural machinery companies brought to Agrishow, the largest agricultural technology fair in Latin America in Ribeirão Preto (SP), a common decarbonization alternative: ethanol engines. The choice of fuel is due to the natural vocation of the country and the increases in production from corn. The technology to move tractors and other agricultural machinery with ethanol, however, is still in testing, a phase that precedes validation. Valtra is the only one that makes an estimate of the commercial launch of the engine. “The machines have already ...