As our wine was bubbling away, the COP 26 conference was getting underway and climate change was being discussed everywhere. Alex and I had just been talking about the potential benefits of regenerative agriculture and joking about selling carbon credits, when he said, "Of course, the process of making wine is not carbon neutral."
Hmmm, I thought. Right. Fermentation gives off CO2 but how much? Certainly, 4 demijohns aren't going to break the bank and we can absorb the CO2 created with the sequestration of carbon on our land. We'll plant another tree or ten.
And then I saw an article today that one winery has started capturing and storing the carbon from fermentation tanks. God, are we on the cusp of something pretty amazing! The technology exists and is being applied to brewing beer, where the carbon can just be put back into the liquid for carbonation. So it can be adapted to winemaking as well. And now it has been.
The Trefethen Family Vineyard has adopted carbon capture technology and is conducting an experiment to see how it works in winemaking. Earthly Labs' "CiCi" is a carbon capture system designed specifically for brewing. It captures CO2 from fermentation, transforms it into a liquid, purifies it and stores it for reuse. This is the first winery using this system. Other wineries use other systems.
Although winemaking doesn't involve huge volumes of CO2, the pollutant-free CO2 that is produced forms in a way that makes capture pretty easy. Apparently, every year, someone in a winery dies of asphyxiation so there are safety reasons for removing the CO2 as well. Capturing, removing and storing or selling the CO2 could turn winemaking into a negative emissions industry.
So many people are experimenting with sustainability issues, that a nonprofit called Port Protocol has been formed to keep track of initiatives. Visit the Porto Protocol website for practical content on all subjects related to climate solutions and sustainability in viticulture and vinification.
Smart Viticulture is a very interesting consulting firm that is a member of the Porto Protocol.
