A group made up of A to Z/Rex Hill Winery, Cooper Mountain Vineyards, King Estate Winery, Lemelson Vineyards, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, Climate Trust, Oregon Environmental Council, Oregon Wine Board, Ecos Consulting, Maul Foster & Alongi, Inc., and Quantec met at the offices of the Oregon Environmental Council in Portland on Monday, August 27 to discuss meeting the Governor's Carbon Neutral Challenge for Oregon's Wineries and Vineyards. The group considered a variety of issues, including developing a tool for accounting and reporting greenhouse gas emissions in the wine industry, beginning the process of carbon accounting, the need for additional information on carbon offset credits, the possibility of Challenge participants generating offset credits through their emission reduction efforts, and exploring opportunities for on-site carbon sequestration through land use practices.

To date, the following wineries have joined in the challenge: Abacela, AtoZ/Rex Hill, Archery Summit Winery, Barbara Thomas Wines, Benton-Lane Winery, Bethel Heights Vineyard, Chehalem Winery, Cooper Mountain Vineyards, King Estate Winery, Lange Winery, Lemelson Vineyards, Mahonia Vineyards, Resonance Vineyard, Seven Hills Vineyard, Sokol Blosser Winery, Soter Vineyards, Stoller Vineyards, Torii Mor Winery, and Willamette Valley Vineyards.

The biggest hurdle for the Challenge participants will be defining the scope of greenhouse gas emissions to be included for reduction and offset. For example, research has shown that bottle making is one of the largest sources of emissions associated with the wine industry, but such emissions are not generally created by wine makers themselves. The issue of what emissions should be counted as winery emissions was a major topic of discussion at the meeting. David Adelsheim, a leading figure in the Oregon wine industry, said, "We have a lot of people in the wine industry who are very interested in [going carbon neutral], and in doing it accurately."

The Challenge participants are hoping to work with the California Wine Institute to develop a standard tool for accounting and reporting greenhouse gas emissions in the wine industry. The Wine Institute is already collaborating with representatives from the wine industries of Australia and New Zealand in such an effort and has issued an RFP for developing a standard carbon accounting and reporting tool. Proposals are due in September and the tool is expected to be completed near the end of the year. Although the details of the tool are yet to be developed, it is expected to address emissions associated with winery facilities (e.g., fermentation, product packaging, and utilities and other fuel use), process waste, process materials, vineyard operations (e.g., tillage practices, fertilizer use, and farming equipment), and transportation of finished goods to market.

The Challenge participants agreed that representatives from Oregon should participate in this joint effort in the interest of developing a single, universally applicable carbon accounting tool for the wine industry. The group further agreed that Ted Farthing from the Oregon Wine Board would liaison with the California Wine Institute regarding participation from Oregon and that a representative from Oregon should serve on the technical advisory committee to ensure that the tool's development is consistent with the group's goals.

The group also agreed that, while the accounting and reporting tool is being developed, Challenge participants should begin assessing their emissions from electricity and fuel usage. The consultants working on the Challenge will provide participants with a draft proposal in September for the emissions sources to be included in this first measurement phase. Challenge participants emphasized the need for a user-friendly procedure for calculating and reporting emissions and the need to protect sensitive competitive information in reporting.

After the tool is completed, the group will meet again for a tutorial on its use. If you have any questions or want more information about the Challenge, becoming a participant, or about how Stoel Rives can guide you on renewable energy projects, please contact us by phone or email: Chris Hermann, Chair, Stoel Rives LLP Winery & Vineyard Group 503-294-9236 crhermann@stoel.com.

For additional information on the Carbon Neutral Challenge please contact Andrea Durbin at Oregon Environmental Council, at 503-222-1963 x104 or andread@oeconline.org.