Winegrower Peter Yealands says a decision to produce energy by burning grape cuttings from some of his 1500 hectares of vines in Marlborough has paid dividends.
Last year Mr Yealands received a grant of $80,000 from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, to build wood burning boilers at the winery in the Awatere valley.
He says the aim was to substantially reduce the annual heating bill from using LPG.
''It saved us in excess of $200,000,'' he said.
Mr Yealands says burning vine prunings in boilers is carbon neutral, which means an annual reduction in CO2 of over 160 tonnes per year.
