A Wine Industry First

The Berlucchi roof-top solar energy plant is now online. The project set up by Guido Berlucchi in Borgonato, Franciacorta is a model for sustainable wine for all to see, literally, now that monitoring of the structure installed over the winemaking facility has been put on the web. 2,600 panels provide 39% of the energy required during production. Sharing the kWh produced is an absolute novelty on the internet for the wine sector, and the counter can be accessed through the Berlucchi Green logo on the corporate site. Data on daily energy consumption is featured, as well as totals since 2011, the year the solar plant was inaugurated. Environmental impact is most successfully gauged by the figures on the carbon dioxide savings that not released into the atmosphere, on barrels of oil not burned and the trees not cut down to be used for firewood. The project’s social sustainability programme is also decisive. The solar installation was built by a non-profit cooperative from Brescia that offers jobs to the socially disadvantaged.