The Blue Water Footprint of the Spanish Wine Industry: 1935–2015

Abstract

<jats:p>The impact of economic growth on natural resources and the environment constitutes a fundamental topic in current research. In particular, water, a fundamental resource for human beings, has been subject to intense pressure in recent decades. Within this context, this article examines the growth of the blue water footprint of the Spanish wine industry and its environmental impact. In order to do this, we will first calculate the blue water footprint of wine, using a bottom-up methodology. Our methodology introduces certain advances with respect to those usually used. Our results show a very fast increase of the blue water footprint from 1995, which has multiplied six-fold in twenty years with an extreme concentration in the region of Castilla-La Mancha, which accounts for 70% of this increase. The expansion of irrigated vine growing in this region has played a relevant role in the serious problems suffered by its aquifers.</jats:p>

The physiology of drought stress in grapevine: towards an integrative definition of drought tolerance

“…However, this percentage appears to be increasing for a variety of reasons including climate change and the relaxation of irrigation restrictions in many traditionally rainfed regions. For example, in Spain the irrigated vineyard area had increased from ~2% in the 1950s to almost 27% in 2015 ( Ayuda et al , 2020 ), and looking at the most recent data from Spain in 2018, that percentage has grown further to ~30% (data obtained from the ‘Anuario de Estadística’, Spanish Ministry of Agriculture). Water deficits impair vine growth and decrease yield, but can improve grape and wine quality unless they are severe ( Chaves et al , 2010 ).…”

Use of Under-Vine Living Mulches to Control Noxious Weeds in Irrigated Mediterranean Vineyards

“…The application of irrigation in Mediterranean woody crops during the summer months can lead to the proliferation of alien weeds [ 77 , 78 ]. In the current context, in which the surface area occupied by irrigated vineyards in Mediterranean countries such as Spain is increasing exponentially [ 79 ], irrigated vineyard rows could be a potential reservoir of invasive alien weeds, some of which, such as E. canadensis or other species of the genus Erigeron , could be noxious grapevine weeds. Based on our results, the use of under-vine living mulches could be a successful option to avoid the proliferation of these species.…”

What Is the Environmental Impact of Wine Entering Global Value Chains? Studying the Evolution of CO2 Emissions from the Export of Spanish Denomination of Origin Wines

“…The methodology used for this study is the extended multiregional input–output model (MIOM). Numerous works have used extended MIOMs for environmental analyses, among which it is worth noting those on the study of anthropogenic footprints of cities and regions [ 30 , 117 ], water footprints [ 92 , 93 , 94 ], the monetization of environmental impacts as a way to assess the effect of legislation on consumer mitigation [ 118 ] or studies that integrate data on companies with input–output data [ 119 ].…”

“…Considering all of the above, the aim of this article is to make an original contribution to the literature by focusing on the evolution of the carbon footprint produced by the international trade and transportation of Spanish denomination of origin wines. To this end, we implemented a multiregional input–output model for the period 2005–2018, as reported by authors such as Ayuda et al [ 92 ], Duarte et al [ 93 ] and Duarte et al [ 94 ]. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to apply this methodology to calculate the evolution of CO 2 emissions produced by exports from the main Spanish DO regions.…”