Wine Production and Carbon Neutrality

How Firriato and other wineries are countering climate change

What is carbon neutrality?

Every human action, whether physiological – such as breathing – or anthropic – such as agriculture – can generate greenhouse gasses, which are major contributors to air pollution, global warming and climate change.

The main gas causing this change is carbon dioxide (CO2), the excess production of which endangers the existence of the ozone, an atmospheric gaseous layer that protects the Earth from UVC radiation from the sun, which is particularly harmful to human health and the safety of the environment.

In order to track climate change data, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) periodically releases assessment reports, containing information on the main causes of this phenomenon. The Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), published in 2014, shows that there is a massive human influence in climate change dynamics and that the current level of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions is at an all-time high, affecting natural and human systems.

To reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (especially CO2), new systems have been adopted in industrial and agricultural production, such as “Carbon Neutrality”.

This approach aims to achieve a zero balance of CO2 emissions coming from the production process through actions focused on reducing and offsetting them. By doing so, one’s influence on the environment is canceled or at least drastically reduced.

What are carbon neutral wineries

The wine industry is one of the sectors where CO2 production proliferates. In all stages of wine production, such as viticulture (the cultivation and harvesting of grapes), winemaking – or vinification (the fermentation of wine), bottling and distribution, CO2 emissions are at very high levels. They come, for example, from glass production, electricity consumption and diesel usage of agricultural vehicles for cultivation.

A study published in 2022 noted that the production of a single 0.75 L bottle implied a range of CO2 emission values that varies from 0.15 to 3.51 kg, including all stages of production. In comparison, CO2 emissions of a gasoline car amount to 2.38 g per liter consumed.

In order to reduce these numbers, some wineries have taken action by operating through less impactful and more sustainable means of production.

Thus, carbon neutral wineries emerged: wineries that limit their carbon-intensive production activities by converting to more sustainable methods; for example, producing electricity from renewable sources, reducing pesticide use, modifying fermentation processes, and choosing recyclable packaging and less polluting means of transportation.

Carbon neutral wineries in the world

The first winery in the world to become carbon neutral was Fetzer Vineyards, dislocated in Hopland, California. Starting from the 1980s, it adopted organic practices in growing grapes, becoming the first Zero Waste certified winery and the first in California to operate exclusively using renewable energy.

Since 2005, Fetzer Vineyards has implemented numerous practices to reduce CO2 emissions, such as using solar panels and installing sustainable water treatment systems, drastically reducing their emissions.

International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA) is a collaborative group of wineries that also assumes importance in the international arena. Thirty-seven companies are currently members of this network, and they follow a protocol that requires assessment of emissions and the means to reduce them. To date, they have collectively reduced emissions by 59,336 tons.

Firritato: the first carbon neutral winery in Italy

In Italy, these activities are still developing. Currently, the only certified carbon neutral winery is Firriato, a Sicilian company with up to 78 hectares of vineyards at the foot of Mount Etna. The company, in addition to enhancing Sicilian biodiversity through a certified organic farming regime, measures and controls emissions, aiming to decrease them as much as possible.

In 2019, the company became the first one in Italy to be recognized as a carbon neutral winery (although they have in fact been carbon neutral since 2017): between 2012 and 2017, it reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 41 percent, and then offset the remainder until they were completely eliminated.

In this regard, according to Federico Lombardo di Monte Iato, COO of Firriato, the key elements in achieving this result were two:

«The first was to have a “managerial” approach to environmental sustainability by creating in-house expertise. Only in this way can we get out of marketing claims and greenwashing, and maintain a system where respect of nature is genuine and active. The second one was thinking outside the box when it comes to the wine world: too often people think that environmental sustainability in wine is only feasible in the vineyard. It is, indeed, essential, but that doesn’t account for more than 20-25 percent of the total.»

During the interview, the COO emphasized how there are three crucial aspects that a carbon neutral certification carries, naming:

«The certainty of data, transparency to the market and the consumer, the fact that environmental sustainability is “integrated” into the production process, but, most importantly, the obligation to continuous improvement, such as reducing one’s environmental footprint at each certification cycle.»

Being the first and currently the only carbon neutral winery in Italy, Firriato’s example in society is crucial. Dr. Lombardo di Monte Iato has also pointed out that those who want to take the same path as them should first measure what their emissions are and where they are, to understand what can be done to reduce emissions.

In order to implement this, he advised companies to apply for ISO14064 (that is, the carbon neutrality certificate) and to have some experienced certifying body, such as DNV.

An area yet to be explored

According to a 2019 study, sustainable viticulture activities can transform the agricultural system into a net carbon sink that can offset all anthropogenic emission within it.

In addition, emission monitoring proves to be a useful pool of information for tracking the implementation of sustainable practices to combat climate change. However, that of carbon neutral wineries is still a developing reality, especially in Italy. For this reason, the effects can currently be assessed only on a small scale: from the first data collected, positive feedback has been verified. It will be necessary to wait a few more years to see if the trend will grow and if results will be achieved on a large scale as well.

Matteo Porazzi

Graduated in Environmental Humanities from Ca’ Foscari University in Venice. He is passionate about sustainability, food, geography and animal studies, mainly in relation to contemporary issues. He found Atmosphera Lab a perfect place to express himself.