Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/66135
GRAPE GRO WING carbon dioxide emissions. Biodiesel also has a very favorable energy balance of 3.2 to 1." (Energy balance is the difference be- tween the energy produced by 1kg of fuel and the energy necessary to produce it.) Yet Deere ships its diesel-powered equipment from the factory with B5— only 5% biodiesel—and recommends no more than B20 even with an additive. Kubota Tractor Corp. also sanctions the use of B20 biodiesel fuels in selected Kubota diesel-powered products. By contrast, New Holland approves B100 biodiesel for use in its T4000F and T4000V narrow tractors and TK crawl- ers, both widely used in vineyards. John Deere claims that it was one of the first off-highway engine manufac- turers to factory-fill biodiesel in North America, and it approved B5 biodiesel in 2001. Since then, John Deere has con- tinued to conduct biodiesel research and has performed lab and field tests using biodiesel fuel. It also has developed a fuel conditioner that is recommended when using lower biodiesel blends and required when using B20 blends and above. Nearly 80% of New Holland-branded products with diesel engines are now avail- able to operate on B100 biodiesel. New B20 "seems to be a good balance of the benefits and liabilities." —Jon Ruel, Trefethen Vineyards Holland also has asked other suppliers of diesel engines used in its products to test and approve higher levels of biodiesel. In addition to extensive testing and development within the company, New Holland has been involved in an ongo- ing research project in collaboration with Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences to put B100 to the test under real-life conditions. Penn State's College of Agricultural Sci- ences is operating new, unmodified New Holland tractors on B100 biodiesel on its 1,500-acre research farm to find out what diesel equipment owners can expect to experience when they use B100. After nearly two years of use, the tractors have performed with no adverse effects in per- formance or maintenance, according to Glen Cauffman, the university's manager of farm operations and services. Source and maintenance The tractor makers recommend that the biodiesel fuel meets requirements of ASTM D6751 or the equivalent and strongly encourage users to buy biodiesel blends from a BQ-9000 certified marketer and to source from a BQ-9000 accredited pro- ducer. Certified marketers and accredited producers can be found at bq-9000.org. John Deere makes some specific sugges- tions about maintenance procedures on equipment that uses biodiesel: • Drain and clean fuel storage tank before and after using biodiesel. • Install tank caps and covers properly to prevent water from entering. 52 Wines & Vines JUne 2011