Yesterday was the official launch of the Bilan Carbon initiative in Bordeaux.
( http://www.decanter.com/news/175396.html?aff=rss )
At the launch, climatologist consultant Jean Marc Jancovici spoke about his previous work with champagne, and gave some very interesting figures about the emissions in the region.
Apparently, Champagne produces 200,000 tonnes of carbon (or equivalent in CO2) per year. The bottles and packaging contribute a massive 40% of that total, with working in the vineyards (heating the buildings/oil for tractors etc) 15%, cellars (temperature-controlled vats etc) for 10% and finally transport (both of bottles and workers) another 15%. That brings it to 80% by my reckoning - not sure where the additional 20% came from.
They now have objectives in place to reduce all of this by 25% by 2050 - which seems a bit harlf-hearted to me; 40 years to reduce emissions by a quarter?
Anyway, Bordeaux is now kicking off its own carbon initiative, with six months of research into current emissions. Hopefully they then try a slightly more optimisic attempt at reducing the levels.
