Agave distillates, such as tequila and mezcal, are alcoholic spirits representative of Mexican culture. In recent years, the demand for mezcal has increased, and with it the requirement for raw materials, bringing with it a series of difficulties. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential environmental impact and energy demand of the production of young craft mezcal from an endemic agave (Agave cupreata) found in the central and southern Pacific area of Mexico. The potential environmental impact of the mezcal studied was obtained through the life cycle analysis methodology using a midpoint approach by the ReCiPe method to calculate the potential environmental impact with SimaPro software (version 8.2.3.0., PRé Sustainability, Amersfoort, The Netherlands). The functional unit is a young craft mezcal bottle of 750 mL with 46% Vol. Alc. The stage of highest contribution to the environmental impact of mezcal was the manufacturing/processing, contributing 59.6% of them. The energy demand of the craft mezcal resulted in 163.8 MJ/bottle of 7.5 dl. The kg CO2eq in mezcal (1.7) is higher than beer (0.63) or white wine (1.01), but lower than whisky (2.25) or pisco (3.62). These findings could allow the search for alternatives for the development of sustainable production.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.