In its commitment to the fight against climate change, Familia Torres has unveiled its Transition Plan towards decarbonization, a detailed roadmap with which it expects to achieve its targets for reducing direct and indirect CO2 emission, culminating in Net Zero emissions by 2040. The preparation of this transversal plan, coordinated by the winery's Climate Change department, is aligned with the United Nations Race to Zero initiative, of which Familia Torres forms part as a member of the International Wineries for Climate Action.
Miguel Torres S.A.'s Net Zero Transition Plan establishes fourteen science-based and measurable initiatives that will accelerate the efforts to reduce emissions from the vineyard to the consumer (the so-called scopes 1, 2 and 3), which the company has been carrying out since 2008, when it launched its Torres & Earth climate action plan. Familia Torres reduced its CO2 emissions per bottle by 36% in 2022, compared to 2008, but reaching Net Zero in 2040, and a 60% reduction by 2030 as an intermediate goal, requires a major effort, so it is essential to have a detailed decarbonization plan that marks the most direct route to this goal.
Some of these initiatives involve a transformation in the way vineyards are managed and wines are made. In addition to the firm commitment to self-generated energy from renewable sources, the plan foresees, among other measures, the replacement of diesel tractors with electric tractors, the implementation of regenerative viticulture in own vineyards and those of suppliers, the reuse of glass bottles and the capture of CO2 from wine fermentation to reuse it as an inert gas in the winery.
According to Miguel A. Torres, president of Familia Torres: "There are solutions to accelerate decarbonization, but we must be willing to innovate and invest. In our winery, we have been capturing the CO2 from wine fermentation for several years, which the vines had absorbed through photosynthesis, and reusing it in the winery. After many tests, we see that it could also be used to obtain sodium carbonate that would be used in the manufacture of bottles. And this is our dream, that the CO2 captured by the vineyard ends up in the wine bottles and thus closes the loop."
This year, Familia Torres has installed three new photovoltaic self-consumption projects on the roofs of its facilities in Pacs del Penedès. One of them covers the area where the fermentation tanks are located, which in turn improves their efficiency as they are protected from the sun. Thanks to these projects, to which a fourth will be added before the end of the year, the winery will reach 50% energy self-sufficiency thanks to the energy generated by its solar panels and biomass boiler, in operation since 2012.
Familia Torres' efforts to reduce its emissions have been recognized at the VIII Awards for Transformation towards a Sustainable Economy, organised by the Spanish financial newspaper Expansión, with the award for the 'Best transition plan to achieve the Net Zero goal before 2050'. A recognition that ratifies the work that the winery has been doing for 15 years and that is now included in its detailed decarbonization plan to achieve net zero emissions.
Miguel Torres S.A.'s Net Zero Transition Plan is available on the Familia Torres website