How green is your wine?

Sirromet Wines has taken the next step in improving its environmental status by commissioning Australian-based technical and engineering consultancy Provisor to determine its carbon footprint.,

Adam Chapman, chief winemaker at Sirromet Wines, said Sirromet has been very proactive about being green and environmental since its inception in 2000.

“We thought the next step would be to find out what our entire company carbon footprint is,” Chapman said. “Most data and press release material that we have seen does not include all dry goods, vineyards, vehicles and wine processes … ours does.

“Our focus is to make high-quality wines with low emissions and we will be implementing more environmentally friendly energy-saving ideas, like solar, wind turbines and water flowmeters, and changing our standard operation procedures to lower our carbon dioxide levels. Having a water recycling plant, a worm farm and great practices in place helped us immensely, but we have a long way to go,” he said.

Provisor has researched every aspect of the company’s carbon footprint, including vineyards, transport, winery, administration, restaurant, bottling, storage and retail functions.

Karl Forsyth, Principal Chemical Engineer for Provisor, said it is valuable for companies to assess their carbon footprint as it relates so closely to energy costs, and is a very effective approach to properly evaluate and minimise energy use in a business.

“Many companies have worked hard on the environmental aspects of their brand and this can be very hard to effectively communicate to customers,” Forsyth said. “Calculating a carbon footprint and actions such as offsetting carbon can demonstrate in a tangible way the environmental values of their brand.

“Companies are doing this for many reasons, including: preparation for mandatory reporting, seeking opportunities to reduce their carbon impact, preparation for new carbon labelling standards and to be able to make defensible claims about either the carbon content of their product or carbon neutrality,” he said.

Forsyth said knowledge of product level carbon emissions is no longer a market advantage; it’s a market access issue.

“Under the government’s proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, it is likely that energy and energy-intensive goods and services will become substantially more expensive as emissions are priced into these products. Those companies that begin working towards understanding the carbon emissions throughout their entire product’s supply chain, and commence efficiency improvement projects, will be in a better position to manage costs than their competitors” Forsyth said.

Initially, Provisor identifies the greenhouse gas emissions from the facilities that the company is directly responsible for. These emissions are generally the result of electricity consumption, fuel use, waste treatment and fugitive emissions from refrigeration. This helps to understand the business so they can identify opportunities within the company for future reduction strategies.

“The facility level assessment helps the company to learn the language and concepts associated with climate change and carbon management, and also gives the staff knowledge to understand and evaluate the business benefits of energy cost reductions and potentially proceed with a product-based life cycle assessment,” Forsyth said.

Following initial facility level assessment, where necessary, Provisor identifies the emissions that occur within the supply chain of the company’s products. This detailed greenhouse gas life cycle assessment is typically completed according to international standard ISO 14040-44 and can be used to conduct reliable comparisons with competitor products and to develop carbon neutral products. Some companies may also be using the life cycle assessment to meet international carbon labelling standards.

“Our two-tier approach works well for companies as they are able to begin the process at minimal cost with the facility-based greenhouse gas assessment, and then proceed with the more detailed life cycle assessment work at a later date as needed,” Forsyth said.