Page 55 - Grapevine March-April 2020

Around The Vineyard

Climate Change and the Wine

Industry. What of the Future?

By: Dr. Richard Smart
W hat is the difference between a winery ing atmospheric levels of CO and other “green-
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and a power plant burning fossil fuel to
house” gases are known to be the cause of climate
generate electricity? Both release carbon change.
dioxide (CO ) into the atmosphere – a major cause
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of global warming and climate change. The differ- In grape juice fermentation one molecule of sugar
ence is one of timing, and scale. Wineries mainly yields two molecules of ethanol and two molecules
discharge CO for a few months of the year during of CO . This CO can be a hazard to winery work-
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2
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vintage, power plants continually. Power plants ers, and so precautions are taken to vent it to the
also release much, much more CO than wineries. atmosphere. I call this treating the atmosphere like
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a sewer.
Environmentally-conscious wine consumers would
be aghast to know that wineries release CO into Wine makers may say that we have always done
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the atmosphere during fermentation, since increas- this, since wine was first made. Perhaps so, but
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