Wine Carbon Emissions Formula Adopted By International Wine Industry

Ever wonder how many carbon emissions it takes to make and ship that enticing bottle of Australian wine?

Well, now it looks like the world's wine community has taken action and come up with a standard way to calculate the industry's carbon footprint, reports JustDrinks.com.

Led by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine, the global trade body brought together producers, suppliers, logistics firms and ad retailers to help them agree on a way to assess environmental impact.

Dubbed the Greenhouse Gas Accounting Profile, the standardized formula has two parts. The enterprise protocol helps businesses calculate their carbon emissions, while the product protocol gives winemakers carbon reduction tips to cut emissions even more, notes Harpers.co.uk.

According to the UK Wine and Spirit Trade Association, the wine sector is one of the first industries to lead with such a move.

This isn't the first time the wine sector has examined its carbon footprint. Last year, the Guardian reported on the world's first wine sold with a carbon footprint label for each individual glass serving -- the Mobius Marlborough sauvignon blanc.

With the warming climate said to inhibit France, Spain and Italy from growing grapes for wine production, it's not too surprising that winemakers have taken action to track and reduce their own emissions.

But the threat of global warming is extending beyond wineries. Just last month, Starbucks' Sustainability Director spoke about how the Arabica coffee bean could become extinct due to climate change.

A study funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation suggested chocolate could become a luxury item if farmers from the Ivory Coast and Ghana can't adapt to warming temperatures.

Take a look at some other examples of endangered foods and drinks potentially threatened by climate change.

Comments

[Jason Smith canada]

08:09 AM on 11/16/2011

California has been hammering their wine bottlers for years to adopt extremely $y methods of capturing yeast bubbles and barrel breathing vapors, ignoring simple electro-ox­idation of those vapors in favor of Big AE Consultant­s super-expe­nsive 'treatment­' processes.http://www.monclercoat4u.com truly crimnial.

[Hitchcockcameo]

10:02 PM on 11/13/2011

I had a chance to spend some time on the Francis Ford Coppola vineyards recently, and I was excited to see that he's converting his on-site vehicles to electric. Seeing the master filmmaker driving around his property in a Nissan Leaf gave me a smile.

[madSomnambulist]

01:54 AM on 11/11/2011

"Ever wonder how many carbon emissions it takes to make and ship that enticing bottle of Australian wine?"

None. Why would anyone ever want to import it from its source? *rimshot*

Actually, Australian exports would suffer significantly less from the northern hemisphere's carbon and general pollution train as its prevailing winds come west across thousands of miles of clear Pacific waters... and a generally undeveloped southern hemisphere to start a particular matter train in the first place.

They're far from immune from climate change issues, but they have a bit of a buffer that the rest of the developed world does not.

[Wanderland]

09:30 AM on 11/11/2011

The geographical isolation of Australia does not insulate it from climate change.

[madSomnambulist]

03:18 PM on 11/11/2011

Never said it did-- "far from immune". Just that being less continuously polluted means their air will at least be less dirty. I should have specified that in regards to the subject of the article, they'll get a but of 'buffer' just based on pollutants, I apologize.

[phoenixbc]

11:39 PM on 11/10/2011

Why is it that the finicky, persnickety, fussy, and arguably elitist wine industry can agree on how to measure a carbon footprint, but some of our elected officials can't even admit the significance of a carbon footprint?

[Chipher]

09:02 PM on 11/12/2011

California has been hammering their wine bottlers for years to adopt extremely $y methods of capturing yeast bubbles and barrel breathing vapors, ignoring simple electro-oxidation of those vapors in favor of Big AE Consultants super-expensive 'treatment' processes. It's truly crimnial.