Taking a life cycle look at crianza wine production in Spain: where are the bottlenecks?

Abstract

Background, aim, and scope This paper presents the results of the LCA of wine production in the region of La Rioja (Spain). The aim of this study was twofold: to identify the most critical life cycle stages of an aged Spanish wine from the point of view of the associated environmental impacts and to compare its environmental performance with that of other wines and beers for which comparable information could be found in the scientific literature. All the product's life cycle stages were accounted for, namely: grapes cultivation (viticulture), wine making and bottling, distribution and sales, and disposal of empty bottles. Materials and methods Foreground data were directly obtained from wine producers, farmers, and oenologists; background data were instead sourced from the GaBi professional database. In order to limit the uncertainty and subjectivity of the results, the choice was made to only employ midpoint indicators of environmental impact (global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential, eutrophication potential, photochemical ozone creation potential), in addition to gross energy requirement (GER) and water demand (WD). The calculated environmental indicators were allocated to the following co-products on the basis of the associated economic revenues: wine, pomace, lees, and press syrup. The avoided impacts associated to electricity generation were accounted for according to the displaced marginal technology. ResultsThe GWP of Rioja wine was found to lie between 900 and 1,000 g(CO 2 -eq)/bottle, depending on the assumed distribution scenario. GER is around 8-9 MJ/bottle, and WD is approximately 5 kg/bottle. The most relevant life cycle stages from the point of view of most of the considered impact categories were found to be viticulture (and fertilizer use in particular) and the production of glass for the bottles. Transportation of the wine and final disposal of the empty bottles cumulatively account for a maximum of 30% of the overall impact, depending on the specific indicator and the assumed distribution scenario.Discussion The analysis appears to be in good agreement with previous literature studies, the results of which lie within a comparatively narrow range. Within such range, the more upmarket Rioja wine can arguably be seen as providing a greater net benefit to the economy per unit of impact. Conclusions The present analysis has shed light on which are the two main environmental bottlenecks in the life cycle of industrialized wine, namely viticulture and glass production for bottle manufacture; GWP results are in the same range as those from previous literature studies. New insight is also provided on a possible measure of "economic return on environmental investment." Recommendations and perspectives As it stands, the study presented here is arguably among the most complete and transparent analyses in the alcoholic beverage sector. It could be further enhanced at a later stage by also including those secondary sub-processes which were cut off due to lack of available data (including herb...

Greenhouse gas emissions in the agricultural phase of wine production in the Maremma rural district in Tuscany, Italy

“…The GWP of the four investigated wines was found to lie between 0.6 and 1.3 kg CO2-eq./bottle (Table 4), showing a comparable value with literature (Notarnicola et al, 2003;Ardente et al, 2006;Point, 2008;Gazulla et al, 2010). The aged red wines (W1 and W2) showed the higher GWP/bottle results, followed by the white wine (W3) and then by the other red (W4).…”

“…In particular, the agricultural phase has been divided into three sub-phases: vineyard planting, pre-production and production. Concerning the agricultural stage, few studies deal with vineyard planting (Pizzigallo et al, 2008), while others start the life cycle from the cultivation phase (Notarnicola et al, 2003;Point, 2008;Gazulla et al, 2010). The industrial phase has been organised into 4 sub-phases: vinification, bottling, packaging, distribution and waste management.…”

“…Considering the whole wine chain, several studies reported that the major environmental impacts of wine production are the use of pesticides and fertilisers in the agricultural phase, and the production of glass bottles in the industrial phase (Notarnicola et al, 2003;Aranda et al, 2005;Ardente et al, 2006;Point, 2008;Gazulla et al, 2010).…”

Life Cycle Assessment Application to the Wine Sector: A Critical Review

“…The authors of the considered papers agree that the key factors responsible for the high environmental impacts are: the fossil fuel consumption needed for agricultural machinery in field operations [15,32]; the soil management [24,32]; and the use of fertilizers and pesticides that generate high polluting emissions both during their production and during their subsequent application in the field [26,31,34]. The contribution of these key factors to the total impacts of viticulture varies with the impact category and the paper considered; in terms of CF, for example, the production and use of fertilizers can provide a contribution from 85 to 30% to the viticulture impact, while the fuel consumption can contribute from 40 to 20%.…”

Water and Carbon Footprint of Wine: Methodology Review and Application to a Case Study

“…The WF grey,direct is the virtual water volume needed to dilute the pollutant load applied in the vineyard, due to runoff, leaching and drift WF grey,direct " V runoff`Vdrift`Vleaching (15) Runoff is the transport of pollutants dissolved in the water that flows over the soil surface; the amount of pollutant that reaches the water body via runoff depends on slope, texture, amount and timing of rainfall and irrigation, if used, and the characteristic of active ingredient used [48]. The The virtual water volume V runoff,i (m 3¨h a´1) is estimated as follows…”