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Energy use within the English wine production industry

Author: Mervyn Smyth
Institution: University of Ulster
Type of case study: Research

About the research

The English and Welsh wine production industry, with more than 120 wineries, has many challenges linked to its cool climate and emerging status as a quality wine-producing country. As a producer trying to establish itself in the competitive global wine market, the industry has to focus on energy sustainability as a key factor in reducing costs and achieving a sustainable business model.

The aim of this study, conducted by Mervyn Smyth and Alistair Nesbitt, was to evaluate the level of energy usage within English and Welsh winemaking facilities compared to the average industry energy usage. This research has potential impact, through the adoption and application of benchmarks by winemaking associations, of directly influencing the energy consumed in making wine in England and Wales towards a more sustainable business model in terms of energy usage.

It presents energy usage within English and Welsh winemaking facilities, based upon energy audits conducted by the researchers at individual winery levels. The wineries surveyed were representative of the geographic distribution of producers in England and Wales and included a range of production scales from a few thousand bottles per year to over 300,000 bottles per year.

The research also used data from the International Energy Agency World Energy Statistics (2011 edition) held by the UK Data Service. These data were used to assess annual energy consumption figures in the UK and internationally to enable comparisons of energy consumption to be made.

Results showed that the yearly bottle production for the wineries surveyed was 1,032,194 bottles, representing almost 26% of the total wine production capacity in England and Wales, and expending 512,350 kWh of energy. Almost 44% of the energy expended in English and Welsh wine production is related to heating, cooling and ventilation requirements, with 22% related to lighting. Extrapolating the study findings to the entire English and Welsh winemaking industry indicates that 2,008 MWh of energy was expended in 2011. The average energy benchmark for domestic wine production is therefore 0.557 kWh/litre, which is significantly lower than some of the other global wine regions that currently have data available. For example, the Australian energy benchmark ranged from 0.75 to 2.0 kWh/l (Anon, 2010), whilst a Canadian study gave a range from 0.21 to 1.9 kWh/l (Anon, 2006). However, there are many wineries worldwide that have demonstrated that much lower values can be attained and thus this research suggests that there is still a substantial reduction in energy usage potentially achievable within the English winemaking industry.

Methodology

The study is based upon a representative number of energy audits conducted at an individual winery level including a walk-through energy survey (visual inspection and information relating to installed equipment and operating processes) of the winemaking facility and (where possible) at least three years historic production figures, end-use energy use and distribution. The survey did not include energy usage in vineyard operations. The wineries surveyed were representative of the geographic distribution of producers in England, with most existing in the South East and Southern England. A total of 21 commercial wineries participated in the survey, representing 17% of a total 124 commercial wineries in England and Wales.

Publications

The research received attention from Wineskills, a training initiative managed by Plumpton College, whose aim is to up-skill the UK Wine Industry. In fact, “as part of its sustainability initiative, WineSkills has worked closely with leading winery energy expert Dr. Mervyn Smyth from the University of Ulster to produce a review of energy use, benchmarking and good practice in English wine production” Wine Skills, 3 March 2013. This review provides useful examples of energy and cost saving methods in wineries: http://www.wineskills.co.uk/sites/default/files/articles/Energy%20and%20English%20Wine%20Production%20%28A%20review%20of%20energy%20use%2C%20benchmarking%20and%20good%20practice%29.pdf

To read the report in full:

Smyth, M., Nesbitt, A. (2014) ‘Energy and English wine production: A review of energy use and benchmarking’, Energy for Sustainable Development, 23, pp. 85–91. DOI:10.1016/j.esd.2014.08.002