Zero emission NZ winery bags World Champion green award

A zero emissions, solar, wind and biomass powered New Zealand winery has claimed World Champion title in one of the world’s most highly regarded sustainability awards.

Yealands Family Wines was awarded Australasian and World Champion at the International Green Apple Environment Awards on Tuesday in London, beating out 500 global nominations from a range of industries for environmental best practice.

Yealand Estate vineyards, in NZ’s Marlborough region, claim to comprise the world’s first net zero carbon winery from inception, and are all are all fully accredited through the Sustainable Winegrowers New Zealand.

Their zero carbon certification – which measures the exact carbon footprint of the company’s product lifecycle from “cradle to grave” – is audited annually, requiring year-on-year improvement in management and off-setting of carbon emissions.

The winemakers’ vineyard in Blenheim also boasts NZ’s largest operational rooftop solar installation – a 99kW, 297 panel system installed by local company PowerSmart.

The wine makers also use wind power and biomass for energy generation, with 10 per cent of the vineyard prunings harvested, baled and burned at the winery to produce up to 500KW of energy.

For fuel, Yealands have installed hydrogen generator units on a number of tractors, cutting fossil fuel consumption by up to 15 per cent and reducing emissions to almost zero.

The wineries also use bio-diesel derived from recycled cooking fat to run vineyard machinery, and an miniature sheep (too small to reach fruit in the vines) and Kunekune pigs to graze the grass in the vine rows – reducing the need to mow with tractors and producing a natural fertiliser.

Other green measures include the adoption of smart technology, including heat recovery units, variable speed drives, refrigeration economisers, evaporative condensers, lighting sensor monitors and energy saving monitors, and the installation of top rated insulation.

The introduction of PET plastic bottles for one of the vineyard’s ranges has further reduced its carbon footprint by 54 per cent (compared to glass bottles

“We had our fingers crossed for a trophy but are absolutely ecstatic to have claimed the top prize and walk away with a World Champion title,” said the company’s founder and principal Peter Yealands.

The Green Apple award is the fifth major sustainability award that the wine makers have received this year alone, with other from Drinks Business Green Awards, Fairfax Sustainable 60 Awards, and the International Best in Biz Awards.