en.Wedoany.com Reported - Global components and technology manufacturer Bosch is testing a new technology in Brazil designed to enable diesel-powered sugarcane harvesters to run on both diesel and ethanol by retrofitting existing machinery, thereby reducing carbon emissions from agricultural equipment.

Matheus Pintor, Commercial Director of Bosch's Innovation and New Business division, stated that the core of the dual-fuel system lies in an add-on kit that mixes ethanol with diesel through an injection system, achieving a substitution rate of up to 60% without compromising engine power. Pintor said, "We joke that ethanol is the future, but it is also the present." The system is designed to allow mills to use their own produced ethanol as fuel, replacing part of their diesel consumption. It is estimated that a single sugarcane harvester can consume between 100,000 and 120,000 liters of diesel per year.

The technology was originally designed for large mining trucks and was later adapted for 9-liter harvester engines. The solution is currently undergoing field tests at six mills in Brazil's main sugarcane-producing regions to verify its performance under different climatic and terrain conditions. Pintor pointed out that the economic advantage of the retrofit solution is that it allows for advancing the decarbonization process using existing equipment, without waiting for the entire fleet to be renewed. "A harvester has a service life of five to ten years; waiting for a complete replacement would significantly delay the decarbonization of the production chain."

Bosch believes the concept has high replicability and could potentially be expanded to other agricultural equipment, such as tractors, though specific applications still require further evaluation. This diesel-ethanol retrofit project is part of Bosch's recent investments in Brazil, with the company having raised funds from institutions including the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) for research and development, of which 9.2 million reais are specifically allocated to this retrofit project.

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