Eco-innovation and benchmarking of carbon footprint data for vineyards and wineries in Spain and France. (20th January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Navarro, Alejandra; Puig, Rita; Kılıç, Eylem; Penavayre, Sophie; Fullana-i-Palmer, Pere
• Is Part Of: Journal of cleaner production. Volume 142:Part 4(2017)
• Page Start: 1661
• Page End: 1671
• Publication Date: 2017-01-20
• Subjects: Corporate carbon footprint -- Eco-innovation -- Vineyard -- Winery -- Wine industry's environmental performance -- Inventory data; Factory and trade waste -- Management -- Periodicals; Manufactures -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Déchets industriels -- Gestion -- Périodiques; Usines -- Aspect de l'environnement -- Périodiques; 628.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.11.124
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-6526

Abstract

Abstract: Environmental sustainability in the wine sector has become a priority, as a result of both the growing interest in environmental issues and the consumer's demand for more information regarding the environmental impact of the products they purchase. In this context, the use of carbon footprint as an indicator to assess and report the environmental burdens associated with wine production has gained a role of primary interest. The present study has the aim of improving the wine sector's sustainability by providing inventory data on wine production systems from a total of 18 wineries located in major wine-producing regions in Spain and the South of France. The main novelty of this paper is: the corporate carbon footprint approach, the greater number of wineries studied, the diversity of location of those wineries, the detail of data presented and the identification of the best reference flow for vineyards. Data was statistically analysed. Vineyard consumptions are usually related to the area of cultivation. However, although 1 ha of vineyard or 1 kg of harvested grape could both be considered good reference flows for vineyard processes, this study shows a greater standard deviation of average data calculated per ha rather than per kg. Impact results show a major contribution of the winery phase to the corporate carbon footprint (73%), mainly due to glass production for bottling (45.6% contribution) and electricity consumption (9.2%). In the vineyard phase, contribution comes mainly from diesel production and combustion due to field works (11.3%) and the use of phytosanitary products (6.0%). The results revealed that with the establishment of best practices and with optimized resource consumption, the corporate carbon footprint values can be reduced by almost 25%. The comparative results presented can be used as a reference that will enable wineries to compare their impacts to the average, to identify in which aspects they are within the average and which aspects they are outside the average and whether these aspects are significant to their carbon footprint. This may encourage wineries to adopt measures for Eco-innovation through carbon emission reduction. Highlights: Corporate Carbon Footprint approach for data gathering, only once previously reported in the wine literature. Inventory data from a greater number of wineries (18) than previously published. Statistical treatment of inventory data and corporate carbon footprint calculations. 1 kg of grape is better reference flow (lower standard deviation) than 1 ha of vineyard. Eco-innovation proposals for efficient resource use within vineyard and winery processes.