Agricultural machinery manufacturers are increasingly betting on biofuel-powered engines. At Agrishow 2026, which began this Monday (27) and runs until Friday (1st) of May, in Ribeirão Preto (SP), two of them are presenting prototypes of machinery that run on ethanol engines. John Deere revealed at the fair that it already has a thousand hours of testing of two prototype tractors powered by ethanol-fueled engines in Brazilian fields. According to the brand's production systems manager, Isabela Aranovich, the equipment is being tested in grain and sugarcane fields. "We are evaluating performance, efficiency, economy," says the executive, who for now, however, does not stipulate a commercial launch date. CASE Construction Equipment is presenting a concept of an ethanol-powered wheel loader at the fair. The equipment, notes the company's leader for Latin America, Henrique Sá, is in the testing phase and is being presented as a concept, but there is still no immediate forecast for commercialization. “The sugarcane and energy sector is central to the transition to cleaner energy sources and demands solutions aligned with this reality. With this initiative, we are expanding our operations and, in synergy with Case IH, advancing an integrated proposal that connects the field and construction through the use of ethanol,” emphasizes the executive. According to the company, the 721E ethanol-powered wheel loader project uses an engine that allows the loader to operate on ethanol, a fuel already produced by the mills themselves. “The goal is to significantly reduce dependence on diesel, which currently represents between 16% and 20% of the operational costs of this type of activity. With approximately 400 mills operating in Brazil and growth prospects with corn ethanol, we are bringing a solution aligned with the sector's reality, which takes advantage of a resource already present in the production process,” concludes CNH's product manager, Anderson Nascimento.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.