Serra M.C.1* , Casadei G.2, Bevilacqua N.1 , Cecchini F.1 , Calanducci N.1 , Morassut M. 1
1
CRA-ENC Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l'Analisi dell'Economia Agraria - Unità di ricerca per le produzioni enologiche dell’Italia centrale
2ARSIAL (Agenzia Regionale per lo Sviluppo e l'Innovazione dell'Agricoltura nel Lazio)
*[email protected], Via Cantina Sperimentale 1, 00049, Velletri, Roma
Abstract
Sustainability and gas emission is a growing interest aspect of agriculture and European Union in future will apply an ecological certification for all agri-food products. Big interest reached in viticulture and oenology the Life Cycle Assesment and several studies, to analyze the carbon dioxide emission, use a methodology developed by Wine Instiute of California:
the “International Wine Carbon Calculator”. This study represents our first approach to sustainable viticulture and oenology. We tested this calculator on data coming from the experimental vineyard of CRA-ENC in Velletri (Rome). We considered a red and a white grapevine cultivar (Verdicchio and Calabrese) and 2 training systems (double Guyot and a Cordon Spoor). Also if further analyses are needed we can see that the 2 cultivar showed different results and agronomist can improve the gas emission profile also changing the production system.
Parole chiave
Impronta ecologica, Enologia, Viticoltura, Life Cycle Assessment, Sottoprodotti enologici
Keywords
Ecological Carbon Footprint, Oenology, Viticulture, Life Cycle Assessment , Oenology by products,
Introduction
Nowadays big concern is given to sustainability and to agri- food gas emission; oenology is not immune from it. Several sustainability initiatives and certification schemes are present (Corbo et al., 2014) but is not yet stated an unique definition for sustainable viticulture. The need to develop a unique methodology it became very important in order to use international recognized schemes to certify the emission and obtain comparable data at national and international level. In Italy, also because the raising interest about this fields in academic word, several articles focused their attention on greenhouse gas emission and the Life Cicle Assessment Method (Corbo et al., 2014, Ardente et al., 2006, Bosco et al., 2011, Vazquez Rowe., 2013). At the moment the majority of the oenological studies published use a methodology developed by the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliace that it offers a protocol and a tool for data calculation (http://www.wineinstitute.org). This approach takes in consideration the whole productive cycle from the ground to the final consumer. It calculates the emissions due to all the energy font used, the cultivation method, the storage, the packaging and the transportations. But an important aspect of this tool is that currently does not includes all elements (Pattara et al., 2012) and is still in improvement phase. For this reason we tested this methodology with our data.
Material and Methods
From several cultivar present in the experimental vineyard of CRA-ENC in Velletri (Rome) we took in consideration a white and a red grapevine: Verdicchio and Calabrese (from Sicilian slang Colla e Anlise, Calavrise, Calabrese = Uva di
Avola, Nero D'Avola). To test the weight of different
cultivation we analysed for both the cultivar a double Guyot and a Cordon Spoor training system. We considered the period from 1998 to 2003.
The tool used to analyze the carbon dioxide emission is the
“International Wine Carbon Calculator” produced by Wine Institute of California.
To obtain comparable data our reference unit was the grape production in Kg for hectare. For fuel consumption the reference unit used was grape production in Kg.
Results and Discussion
For agronomical practice we focused our attention on fuel consumption.
Table 1. Gas emission due to gasoline used for each kilos of grape produced from 1998 to 2003 (means values)
Cultivar Training system Kg CO2
Verdicchio Cordon Spoor 69.9
Verdicchio Double Guyot 48.5
Calabrese Cordon Spoor 49.6
Calabrese Double Guyot 50.9
For Verdicchio cultivar Carbon Dioxide emission is higher with Cordon Spoor training system respect to Double
Guyot, without statistical difference; for Calabrese the 2 systems are quite equivalent.
For what concern the vintage, we focused our attention on emissions due to waste production: vineyard woody pruning, pomace, grape stalks and lees.
Table 2. Carbon Dioxide production due to waste produced for each hectare of cultivated field, mean values from 1998 to 2003 (kg). Cultivar Training system vineyard woody prunings pomace, grape stalks lees CO2 Verdicchio Cordon Spoor 8.75 5.38 0.04 Verdicchio Double Guyot 11.15 7.74 0.05 Calabrese Cordon Spoor 9.05 6.38 0.06 Calabrese Double Guyot 12.04 6.23 0.06
The table 2 shows the results by cultivar and training system: for Verdicchio higher values are registered for vineyard woody prunings and pomace in Double Guyot training system even if without statistical difference; for Calabrese is not registered a difference in emission due to pomace and grape stalks, but for vineyard woody prunings we have bigger values for Double Guyot training system.
Our study presents some limit due to the methodology used not yet completely adapted to our grapevine production methodology and also to the fact that some year, like 2002 presented extraordinary whether characteristics with consequently drastic reduction in quality and quantity production. The climatic situation of 2002 with severe propagation of grapevine fungal diseases compromised especially Calabrese production also because the Sicilian origins makes it more sensitive.
From our preliminary data, we can see that there is a difference in Carbon Dioxide emission between the 2 training systems for Verdicchio, a white grapevine cultivar: for Cordon Spoor we registered an higher CO2 production
due to the fuel used for the agronomical practices but a lower values due to the waste production. For Calabrese was not registered the same difference between the training methods, further analyses are needed to study in-depth this aspect.
Conclusions
Also if further analyses are needed we can see that, for Verdicchio cultivar, the training system can influence the sustainability of the production. The agronomist can improve the gas emission profile of one farm also changing the production system but only thorough good knowledge and experience in cultivar and training system.
References
Ardente F., Beccali G., Cellura M., Marvuglia A. 2006. POEMS: A Case Study of an Italian Wine-Producing Firm. Environmental Management6, Volume 38, Issue 3, pp 350- 364
Bosco S., Di Bene C., Galli M., Remorini D., Massai R., Bonari E. 2001. Greenhouse gas emissions in the agricultural phase of wine production in the Maremma rural district in Tuscany, Italy. Ital J Agron.; 6:93-100.
Corbo C, Lamastra L., Capri E. 2014. From Environmental to Sustainability Programs: A Review of Sustainability Initiatives in the Italian Wine Sector. Sustainability 6(4), 2133-2159
Pattara C., Raggi A., Cichelli A. 2012. Life Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprint in the Wine Supply- Chain. Environmental Management Volume 49, Issue 6, pp 1247-1258
Vázquez-Rowe I., Rugani B., Benetto E. 2013. Tapping carbon footprint variations in the European wine sector. Journal of Cleaner Production 43:146- 155
http://www.wineinstitute.org/files/International%20Wine% 20Carbon%20Calculator%20Protocol%20V1.2.pdf