Program: Grants for the implementation of innovation projects of general interest by operational groups of the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP-Agri), Call 2022

Funding body: National Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU

Strategic line: B. Resource efficiency, in particular precision and smart agriculture, innovation, digitalisation and modernisation of production machinery and equipment

Start date: 2022                                 Finish date: 2025

Total budget: 599,444.00€

Description: The wine sector is particularly sensitive to climate change. To combat this, it is necessary to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, for which it is essential to know their origins and magnitudes. However, calculating the carbon footprint of vineyard and winery activities is complex, due to the large number and variety of emission sources. Moreover, the complexity of mitigation decision making is high, requiring not only technical, but also economic and even cultural knowledge and data.

In this context, the VID-EXPERT project has been launched. Its main objective is to develop an smart system for diagnosing the carbon footprint and managing climate change mitigation in the wine sector. In other words, a tool for decision-making and monitoring.

The project methodology consists of several stages. In the first stage, a literature review was carried out in two areas: carbon footprint calculation methodology and available mitigation measures. On the one hand, the relevant variables for calculating the carbon footprint are selected and converted into questions in a questionnaire to be answered by a certain number of managers of wineries and vineyards of different typologies. Another questionnaire aims to find out about the processes involved in mitigation decision-making by companies in the sector. On the other hand, the available mitigation measures are put in relation to their effectiveness and cost-benefit ratio.

In the second stage, the data obtained are subjected to advanced statistical analysis. This will make it possible to establish a model of the process of calculating and managing the carbon footprint of wine companies. Finally, based on this model, an advanced software tool will be developed, tested and validated in several companies.

Members of the operational group:

• Spanish Association for Standardisation (UNE)
• Spanish Wine Federation (FEV)
• Sistemas Avanzados de Tecnología (SATEC)
• Intergia Energía Sostenible S.L. (INTERGIA)

Other participants non-members of the operational group:

• Instituto de investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria (IRTA)
• Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM)
• University of Zaragoza (UNIZAR)