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Description
Introduction
The agricultural sector is responsible for approximately 10 - 12 % of the anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and hence, contributes substantially to climate change. On global scale, the wine value chain emits about 0.3 % to anthropogenic GHG emissions (Rugani et al., 2013). In countries with increased wine production and consumption, these rates might be even higher (Amienyo et al., 2014). Despite the fact that vineyards account for 0.6 % of Germany's total agricultural area, Germany as one of the top-ten global wine producers and top-five countries in wine consumption offers significant lever for GHG mitigation in the wine sector. So far, little is known about the climate change mitigation potentials of the German wine sector. Hence, this study aims to assess the status-quo of GHG emissions of German wine production and identify opportunities for additional GHG reduction and climate change mitigation.
Material and Methods
Therefore, we collected explicit production and corporate data for the fiscal year 2022 from 100 wineries, using a quantitative questionnaire through face-to-face online and in-person interviews. The data encompassed all information relevant to comprehensively quantify any material and energy flows in the farm-specific production system. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) under the ISO 14040 guidelines was chosen as the methodology for the environmental evaluation of wine production. The scope of the LCA was “cradle to gate,” encompassing the production processes of the establishment of the trellis system, grape production, vinification, and bottling. The functional units of the LCA were defined as one kilogram of grapes, one litre of wine, and one bottle of wine. For the creation of the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI), the ecoinvent database v. 3.9.1 allocation cut-off was utilized as a data basis, with impact scores calculated using the CML v4.8 2016 Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) method. In total, eleven impact categories were considered including climate change, acidification, freshwater ecotoxicity, marine ecotoxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity, non-renewable energy resources, eutrophication, human toxicity, metal/minerals resources, ozone depletion, and photochemical oxidant formation. While the focus is on GHG emissions, the inclusion of further impact categories allows for a more extensive evaluation of the environmental impact of German wine production. For the LCA calculations, and statistical analysis, the software R was used.
Results
In the grape production phase, including the establishment of the trellis system, of the wine value chain, diesel consumption and the trellis system have the largest impact on GHG emissions. An important factor in diesel consumption are various management measures in vineyards conducted with machinery, where we find a substantial variability between wineries regarding the number of measures and respective tractor rides. Furthermore, for the establishment of the trellis system, the materials used cause significant differences. The use of non-impregnated hardwood poles and bamboo rods for the young vines reduces the environmental impact of the trellis system distinctly in comparison to alternative materials from impregnated wood and zinc-coated steel. During the vinification phase, energy usage is often responsible for GHG emissions. However, there are distinct differences between wineries caused by vinification methods that require high energy. Nevertheless, the overall highest impact factor on most impact categories is the wine bottle.
Discussion and recommendations
At the establishment of the vineyard, the selection of material is important for the reduction of GHG emissions in grape production. The utilization of impregnated wood poles should be avoided because they have a short durability and a high impact due to the impregnation. In the grape production phase, the possibility exists that a reduction of emissions could be achieved by avoiding non-essential management measures on the vineyards with machinery. During vinification, high-energy methods like mash heating should be circumvented, if possible. Furthermore, traditional passive wine cellar cooling has advantages in terms of emissions compared to active cooling. Finally, a sector-wide adoption of a reusable bottle system could potentially reduce the emissions caused by the wine bottle.
References
Amienyo, D., Camilleri, C. and Azapagic, A., 2014. Environmental impacts of consumption of Australian red wine in the UK. Journal of Cleaner Production, 72, pp.110-119.
Rugani, B., Vázquez-Rowe, I., Benedetto, G. and Benetto, E., 2013. A comprehensive review of carbon footprint analysis as an extended environmental indicator in the wine sector. Journal of cleaner production, 54, pp.61-77.
| Keywords | LCA; wine; greenhouse gas emissions; climate change mitigation; LCIA |
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