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Xinyuan Li
Instructor
HMGT-3000
Carbon Footprint Assignment
Carbon Footprint of Wine
Wine is one of the most popular products used by resorts in Canada. In fact, many top
restaurants in wine growing areas in Vancouver and BC have specific packages or
experiences created around wine tasting and vine yard tours. The main raw materials for wine
are; “wine grapes, yeast, cane or beet sugar, and Sulphur dioxide” (www.oiv.int, 2015). The
manufacturing of wine follows a four-step process of harvesting the grapes, fermenting, aging
the wine, and packaging for distribution. Each of these steps has several steps within it from
which different raw materials are added to complete the processes. Altogether there eleven
steps in wine manufacturing.
The largest contributors of Wine’s carbon footprint among these steps and processes
are the production of raw materials – i.e., mainly agricultural production of wine grapes – and
packaging – i.e., manufacturing bottles, wooden corks, and transportation to distributors.
According to know the flow the production of one bottle of wine contributes approximately
“1.28kg CO2” (). Of this, “0.80 Kg CO2” comes from the production of raw materials.
Whereas grape plants themselves do not necessarily produce a bulk of the CO2 the fuel used
to power machinery in vineyards produces a large part of the emissions – this includes
tractors, harvesters, and other farm machinery.
Although glass is fronted as a better replacement for plastic in packaging of different
products, the carbon footprint of its production and lifecycle are often overlooked. To begin
with over 85 percent of wine packaging is glass. During transportation only 40 percent of the
weight is contributed by the wine – the rest is packaging. It is no surprise therefore that half
of the carbon emissions of the wine industry come from the bottles that it is packaged and
distributed in (Cholette and Venkat, 2009). According to “academicwino.com, a 20%
reduction in a wine bottle’s weight would save 100g of CO2 emissions per bottle from
packaging and production” (2020). This would also reduce the cost of producing glass
bottles. The manufacturing of glass bottles already emits a significant amount of carbon as
the furnaces used in such plants produce CO2 and are often never switched off.
Once the wine is produced and packaged it is transported to different locations – to
distributors and retailers – using trucks, ships, or planes. Considering the weight of packaging
used, it is evident that carbon emission during transportation increases significantly. Given
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the ranges of estimated bottled wine weight Caroline Reich-Weiser et al., estimated that “the
transportation emissions may range from 0.21 to 1.6 kg of CO2 per bottle” (2010). This is an
average from the point of production to the consumer.
This numbers are not surprising considering that the wine industry has taken
significant measures to reduce their carbon footprints, especially in Canada. However, the
next time I pick a glass of wine this will definitely cross my mind.
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References
Reich-Weiser, C., Paster, P., Erickson, C., & Dornfeld, D. (2010). The Role of Transportation
on the GHG Emissions of Wine. Journal of Wine Research, 21(2-3), 197-206.
doi:10.1080/09571264.2010.530111
OIV. (2015, June). Greenhouse gases accounting in the vine and wine sector – recognised
gases and inventory of emissions and sequestrations. Retrieved October 26, 2021,
from https://www.oiv.int/public/medias/4521/publication-bilan-ges-en.pdf
Cholette, S., and Venkat, K. (2009). The energy and carbon intensity of wine distribution: A
study of logistical options for delivering wine to consumers. Journal of Cleaner
Production 17: 1401-1413.

4b. Transportation emissions

relative to total emissions
It is useful to determine the total
one-way emissions per bottle
attributable to transportation so
this can be compared with
previous assessments of
emissions up until distribution
(Table 1).
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The Liquor Control Board of

Ontario [22] reports that a 750
mL wine bottle weighs
anywhere
from 270 to 800 grams, with a
mean weight of 510 grams and a
median weight of 500 grams.
Additionally, the weight of the
wine is roughly 750 grams
(assuming it is similar to
water).
Therefore, the total transported
weight per bottle is between 1020
and 1550 grams (median of
1250 grams).
Given this range of possible
wine values, the transportation
emissions may range from 0.21 t