PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Soil is the largest carbon buffer on earth, influencing the presence of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere and acting both as carbon sink and source through CO2 emissions. Soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration is the process of transferring CO2 from the atmosphere into the soil through plants, plant residues and other organic solids which are stored or retained in the soil as part of the soil organic matter (SOM) (Olson et al., 2014). Thus creating a net removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. Soils under grassland and forests can be considered a significant carbon sink (estimated at up to 80 million tonnes of carbon per year), while soils under arable land are usually less effective (estimated between 10 to 40 million tonnes of carbon per year).
Viticulture can support ‘carbon farming’ in various ways, the most obvious of which is the generation and sale of offset credits through reductions in emissions of either methane or nitrous oxide and the increased storage of carbon in soils or trees. In the long term, the most effective way to manage soil carbon to mitigate climate change is to preserve existing soil stocks; however, in the short term, significant results are more likely to be achieved through land management practices and land use change.
VitiCaSe LIFE project will set up a pilot business model for promoting the removal of land-based CO2 in vineyards. The business model will push winegrowers to integrate carbon stocking into their soil management practices and cultivation techniques.
OBJECTIVES
VitiCaSe LIFE project aims to develop an incentive-based carbon farming mechanism which allows farmers and land managers to generate carbon credits by storing organic carbon or by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
In particular the project will pursue the following objectives:
- Define agronomic practices and cultivation techniques to increase the storage of organic carbon in the soils of vineyards.
- Estimate the carbon credits generated in the vineyards (compared to business-as-usual) through ad-hoc IT technologies.
- Develop specific monitoring and verifying procedures to allow third-party certification of the carbon credits generated in the vineyards.
- Test the sale of carbon credits in voluntary markets. Credits will be sold by farmers and acquired by companies wanting to offset their CO2 emissions.
RESULTS
The expected results of the VitiCaSe project are as follows:
- A database and manual containing details of sustainable soil management (SSM) practices to be used by farmers to improve carbon stock and carbon sequestration (SSM4SOC) in vineyards.
- Set-up a reliable IT tool for estimating carbon stocks in vineyards using the RothC estimation model. In particular, quantification of the baseline and estimation of the potential SOC accumulation for each selected area of intervention and SSM practice.
- Implementation of the VitiCaSe system in four pilot vineyards covering at least 350 ha.
- Certification of carbon credits generated in the vineyards and their placement on exchange platforms.
- Monitoring of technical results (C stock) by collecting and analysing soil samples (three to five for each area at the beginning and end of the project).
- Evaluation of the economic results and the business model for farmers using selected indicators and the Quaderno di campagna management information system developed by the project and used by the farmers.
- Preparation of an exploitation plan for replicating project results.
- Carbon stored in the vineyards increased by around 3 t/ CO2 eq during the four years of the project.