Water Footprint Sustainability as a Tool to Address Climate Change in the Wine Sector: A Methodological Approach Applied to a Portuguese Case Study

Abstract

In the Mediterranean region, climate change is likely to generate an increase in water demand and the deterioration of its quality. The adoption of precision viticulture and the best available techniques aiming at sustainable production, minimizing the impact on natural resources and reducing production costs, has therefore been a goal of winegrowers. In this work, the water footprint (WFP) in the wine sector was evaluated, from the vineyard to the bottle, through the implementation of a methodology based on field experiments and life cycle assessment (LCA) on two Portuguese case studies. Regarding direct water footprint, it ranged from 366 to 899 L/FU (0.75 L bottle), with green water being the most significant component, representing more than 50% of the overall water footprint. The approach used in the current study revealed that although more than 97.5% of the water footprint is associated with vineyard, the winery stage is responsible for more than 75% of the global warming potential indicator. A linear correlation between the carbon footprint and the indirect blue water footprint was also observed for both case studies. Climate change is expected to cause an earlier and prolonged water stress period, resulting in an increase of about 40% to 82% of blue WFP.

Sustainable Development Directions for Wine Tourism in Douro Wine Region, Portugal

“…Regarding direct water footprint, it ranged from 366 to 899 L/0.75 L bottle. The study revealed that although more than 97.5% of the water footprint was associated with vineyards, the winery stage was responsible for more than 75% of the global warming potential indicator [41]. Due to climate change projections for DDR that reveal warming and drying trends for the upcoming decades, a yield decrease is expected.…”

Water–food–energy nexus: Assessing challenges in the trend toward digitalization: The case study of an Italian winemaking industry

“…16 So far the impact that the food industry has on the environment was analyzed through life cycle analysis. 17,18 However, this downstream approach makes it possible to calculate the emissions and the consumption of resources in relation to a given process, providing information on the most impactful transformation steps, without allowing for optimizing the operative conditions of the process. Mathematical simulation and optimization models provide, instead, a common way to re-design or optimize the water-energy consumption system while maintaining the highest level of food security.…”

“…Between 2015 and 2017, the total natural gas consumption was between 3204. 18 In the bottling center, the natural gas consumption shows a similar overall trend from year to year and it is mainly related to steam generation. There is a constant background consumption due to the production process, continuous along the year, to which a further consumption due to the heating of offices and plants is added in the winter period.…”

“…This is due to the multiple interdependent physical, biochemical, human, and political processes that govern the behavior 16 . So far the impact that the food industry has on the environment was analyzed through life cycle analysis 17,18 . However, this downstream approach makes it possible to calculate the emissions and the consumption of resources in relation to a given process, providing information on the most impactful transformation steps, without allowing for optimizing the operative conditions of the process.…”

Life Cycle Assessment of Municipal Wastewater Treatment Processes Regarding Energy Production from the Sludge Line

“…LCA allows us to compare different systems, products, and processes regarding the production and self-usage of energy and the extraction of the raw materials included in various treatment unit combinations [4] to find the best process scenario available [5]. Since the 1990s, different WWT topics have been examined in several previous LCA studies [6]: plant modifications and operations [7][8][9][10][11][12], modeling [13][14][15][16][17][18][19], sludge processes [11,[20][21][22], greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [4,23,24], rainfall impact [6,25], and uncertainty [5,[26][27][28].…”