Selecting south European wine based on carbon footprint

Abstract

The largest wine producers globally are located in Southern Europe and climate is a major factor in wine production. The European Union aims to complement the consumer’s choice for wine with information about environmental sustainability. The carbon footprint is a worldwide-standardized indicator that both wine producers and consumers perceive as the most important environmental indicator. So far, environmental life cycle assessment studies show variability in the system boundaries design and functional unit selection, and review papers do not include life cycle inventory data, and consider vineyards in various locations worldwide. This study aimed to investigate what are the key factors affecting the carbon footprint of red and white wine production in South European countries with the same climatic conditions, and benchmark both wine types. The results showed that the carbon footprints of white and red wines are comparable. The average carbon footprints were 1.02, 1.25, and 1.62 CO₂ eq. bottle of wine ⁻¹ for organic red wine, conventional red wine, and conventional white wine, respectively. The viticulture, winemaking, and packaging stages affect greatly the carbon footprint. Diesel consumption at the viticulture stage, electricity consumption at the viticulture and winemaking stages, and glass production at the packaging stage are the largest contributors to the carbon footprint. Wine consumption stage was omitted from most studies, even though it can increase the carbon footprint by 5%. Our results suggest that consumers should choose (conventional or organic) red wine that is produced locally.