A study found that wineries across the country have taken steps to counteract the effects of climate change.
Associate Professor Jeremy Galbreath of the Curtin Graduate School of Business surveyed 532 Australian Wine Companies in Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia. Participants were asked to describe their understanding of climate change and what measures they are taking to minimize the impact it could have on their industry.
Dr Galbreath said the study wasn’t meant to gauge businesses’ opinions about climate change but was rather intended to discover what measures companies are taking in different wine regions.
More than half said they were implementing or in the process of implementing measures to decrease the number of agrichemicals in their business.
Three-quarters of Western Australian respondents said they tried to conserve water in their vineyards.
Many producers are implementing mitigation measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These include using alternative energy sources, alternative packaging such as lightweight PET and glass bottles, reducing the refrigeration load, and planting additional trees and shrubs that act as carbon sinks.
Other measures included switching to grape varieties that are suited to hotter climates and canopy management techniques that address the potential increase in temperature.
Dr Galbreath stated that the findings indicate wine businesses are adapting to possible climate change impacts.
Some people do these things for economic reasons. He said that businesses could save money by reducing energy and resource usage.
Dr Galbreath said that wine producers are always willing to share their technical and industry information in order for them to be prepared for future opportunities and risks.
The survey allowed respondents to leave comments if they so desired. Although some respondents expressed skepticism about the extent of climate change, Dr Galbreath said that most producers were “clearly implementing mitigation actions and would end up decreasing greenhouse gases in any case.”
He said: “I believe that overall, we can say the Australian wine industry is putting in actions that are appropriate if you’re looking to adapt or mitigate climate change.”
This is an industry in Australia that has adapted to changing climates over and over again. The Australian wine industry will adjust to the changing environment as needed.
Wines of Western Australia sponsored the study.
The University of Melbourne’s Associate Professor Richard Eckard is the Director of the Primary Industries Climate Challenges Centre. He said that the use of nitrogen fertilizer by the wine industry, which when added to the soil can produce the greenhouse gas Nitrous Oxide, was very strategic and targeted.
“Their nitrous dioxide emissions are actually quite small.” The entire industry would have to reduce its emissions by half in order to contribute nothing. Emissions from large-scale grain production are also quite low. “The real emissions come from the livestock industry,” said Associate Professor Eckard, a non-participant in the study.
The most efficient thing that livestock producers can achieve is to focus on the intensity of emissions. He said that this means improving the efficiency of their systems, such as breeding their cattle a year sooner so that their system will be more efficient. Each kilogram of beef also has a smaller footprint.
