Life cycle assessment of grape cultivation in Piedmont, Italy

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to present a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) of grape cultivation for wine, in Piedmont, Italy. A cradle to gate approach was followed for grape cultivation (functional unit: 1 kg of grapes), based on data collected for the Barbera and Moscato varieties. Life cycle environmental impacts were analysed for the following categories: fossil depletion (FD), global warming (GW), terrestrial acidification (TA), freshwater eutrophication (FEUT) and freshwater ecotoxicity (FWecot). The calculation of impacts included fertilization (nitrogen and urea field emissions), application of plant protection products (PPPs), diesel combustion in agricultural operations, and production of agricultural inputs. FWecot impacts of pesticide application were assessed by combining a framework developed for the inventory of pesticide emissions to different compartments (off field natural soil, agricultural soil, and air) with characterization factors from USETox. Results show that energy use in agricultural activities (diesel) was the largest contributor to GW and FD (more than 70 %). For TA, the largest contributors were PPP and diesel (44 % and 40 %, respectively). Fertilizers and PPPs represented 57 % and 34 % of FEUT impacts, respectively. PPP field emissions alone represented 93 % of FWecot impacts. The equipment used in agriculture activities represented less than 8 % of the total impacts. Overall, impacts due to pesticide application (including diesel use) represented 27 to 56 % of impacts, except FWET where it represented nearly 100 % of impacts. This paper shows the importance of LCA to identify improvement opportunities to reduce environmental burdens related with grape cultivation, namely adopting strategies to decrease the amount of fertilizer and pesticide applied (and associated energy use). Furthermore, it highlights the importance of assessing the application of PPP in current agriculture practices in a comprehensive way, especially when assessing toxicity categories (where PPPs dominate impacts).