Page 56 - Grapevine March-April 2020
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Around The Vineyard
times have changed. Climate scientists the world How can the Grape and Wine Sector
over are worried about global warming caused by Minimise Carbon Pollution?
increasing CO content of the atmosphere; they say
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we need to dramatically reduce emissions to avoid The standard 750ml glass bottle is the main villain
catastrophic climate events in the next 30 years. for wines carbon footprint, being weighty, volume
Even small contributors, like from wine fermenta- demanding and energetically expensive to manu-
tion, should cease. facture and recycle and transport. A wander around
supermarkets shows there are many other lighter
Europeans are generally more environmentally packaging alternatives for liquids. Lower value
aware than winemakers in the rest of the world. wines are infrequently cellared nowadays, being
There are several companies in Europe producing generally purchased for immediate consumption,
equipment to capture fermentation CO , clean and and comprise around 50% of wine sales in several
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compress it for re-use or for re-sale. Such systems markets. Expensive containers like glass bottles,
are commercially available now, for example from designed for storage seem unnecessary, as well as
Enomet (Italy). Such systems are more common in being environmentally most undesirable. Perhaps
breweries, and are even available for microbrewer- 750 ml glass will be replaced by 1 L cardboard or
ies (Earthly Labs, USA). paper cartons, as for many other food liquids.
Château Smith Haut Lafitte of Bordeaux is using The grape and wine sectors can take heart that
a process developed by the French firm Alcion some modern research, machinery and process
Environnement to capture fermentation CO as developments are available to minimise carbon
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bicarbonate of soda (sodium bicarbonate). The footprints. For vineyards, these could involve use of
Wine Council of Bordeaux, the CIVB (Conseil biofuels, electric tractors, improved irrigation effi-
Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux), is show- ciency, and reductions in agricultural chemical use.
casing the initiative as a good example of how to Solar and wind energy are being employed by some
lower CO emissions from fermentation. businesses.
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The Wine Industry as a Carbon Polluter Vineyards and wineries are generally slower than
other agricultural industries in considering waste
It is common now for various industries to calcu- products as biomass fuel for heat and electricity
late their carbon footprint, using agreed protocols generation. Electricity production remains largely
called Life Cycle Analyses. This has been done for dependent on fossil fuels, and winery demands for
the grape and wine sectors in several countries. heating/cooling and lighting are major contributors
Such a study in in Australia has shown that the to the carbon footprint. European studies suggest
wine industry is around 7% of the carbon emission that pomace, stalks and prunings as renewable
of civil aviation. The grape and wine industry is not energy sources can contribute significantly as
a large contributor in society but neither is it insig- electricity alternatives. Prunings can be baled in
nificant. the vineyard, easily collected and air-dried, then
chipped before use as a fuel.
The grape and wine industry is especially sensitive
to weather and climate, so it is in the industry’s An important recent development has been in
best interest to do what it might to mitigate cli- pyrolysis units to convert biomass into electricity.
mate change. And yet, we hear little about this. Large municipal facilities have problems of biomass
For all the industry talk about “sustainability” one supply, because of low biomass value for cartage
hears very little about carbon footprints. over longer distances. Newer developments of
small, portable units can be located at the source
LCA studies show that grapegrowing and wine- of biomass as for the winery; they can produce
making are not major contributors to the carbon syn-gas, wood vinegar, biochar and bio-oil. Bio-oil
footprint of wine production and sale. The pro- and syn-gas can be used to produce electricity,
duction of glass bottles and transport make up the and wood vinegar when dilute is a natural plant
great majority of wines carbon footprint. growth stimulant, and when concentrated is a her-
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