Research Posters

During our visit to San Miniato, we learned about some of the research currently underway at the University of Siena. One of the more interesting was entitled “Assessment of Environmental Aspects Related with a Productive System of Organic Wine” by Riccardo Maria Pulselli, Valentina Niccolucci, Benedetto Rugani, and Simone Bastianoni. I learned how these scientists looked at several different factors that impact the production and distribution of organic wine. They separated their research into two parts: the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Emergy Evaluation (EE).

The Life Cycle Assessment looked at the four stages of wine making including planting, production, storage, and bottling of organic wine. They used data from the farmer to determine the environmental impact of these steps. Also, they did their own research on the soil, air, and water at the farm. They looked at how many resources were renewable and non-renewable and how many were local and foreign. After receiving this data, the production and bottling of wine caused the most impact on the environment due to fuel and water consumption.

This information led them into the second part of the experiment—Emergy Evaluation. Emergy is the amount of solar energy required to make wine. The team showed how different factors, both natural and man made, help or hurt the production of wine. For example, they showed how the amount of sunlight can impact the soil, which can impact the quality of the grapes, which can impact the amount of grapes able to be harvested, which can impact the price of the wine, and so on. After looking at all of these factors, they tried to develop sustainable solutions such as using lighter glass bottles and producing biodiesel fuels from crops of local farms.

These scientists did very compelling research in sustainability and environmental chemistry. They not only used their chemical background to test the soil, air, and water for pollutants, but also showed how small changes in these readings can impact the local and regional economy. In addition, they put a great amount of effort into making the local wine industry more sustainable which is a very hot topic currently. Finally, they have aspirations to further their research to help the national wine industry to become more resource efficient. I thoroughly enjoyed all the time and effort this group of scientists put forth. I appreciated the conversation with Valentina as she was very helpful in answering my questions. I learned a great deal from her and look forward to their future research.