The concept of 'green mountains and clear waters are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver' adheres to the basic national policy of conserving resources and protecting the environment, treating the ecological environment like life. ”It has become a fundamental national policy for China's development. While China's economy is developing rapidly, it has also achieved gratifying results in the construction of ecological civilization. More and more enterprises and individuals realize that development cannot be achieved at the cost of polluting the environment. However, in the face of rapidly iterating modern civilization, it is obviously impossible to stop industry.
How to balance and reconcile the sharp contradiction between economic growth and environmental protection has become a problem that current enterprises need to face, which is equally important for liquor companies.
A cup of Baijiu has become the history that many enterprises are most willing to share with consumers when developing. But in fact, the traditional brewing industry also has an impact on environmental pollution during the production process. As early as the golden decade of the development of the liquor industry, we have seen negative cases of wastewater and exhaust gas pollution generated by brewing enterprises, but at the same time, we have also seen the construction invested by enterprises to protect their long-term development.
In "Huainanzi", it is said that "the beauty of clear wine begins with plowing." To make a bottle of wine a "green product," green raw materials are the first step in "green brewing.
What is green raw material? In the process of planting, from the selection of grain seeds, field management to particle storage, the use of pesticides and fertilizers must be strictly controlled, and the raw materials produced must also be tested by authoritative departments before they can be called green raw materials. The quality of raw grains directly determines the quality of wine.
There is no unique individual in society, and the brewing industry needs an ecological environment to create its own product quality. In view of the impact of Baijiu brewing on the environment and other issues, the reporter of China Liquor Industry interviewed Ren Xingzhou, a researcher of the Market Economy Research Institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council, to interpret many requirements for the brewing industry and environmental protection. We need to approach the issue of the liquor industry and environmental protection from a dialectical perspective. From the perspective of the overall environment, the air, water quality, and soil at the source of the industrial chain ensure the healthy development of enterprise production in the downstream industrial chain.
A large part of Chinese Baijiu enterprises use grain as raw material for production and processing, which needs to ensure the safety of raw grain. It can be said that the overall environment has fostered the healthy development of the industry. However, from the perspective of the brewing industry itself, production and construction also bring certain environmental pollution, which comes from problems such as wastewater, exhaust gas, and residue. This requires the brewing industry itself to raise environmental awareness and strengthen management to make the brewing industry last forever.
In September 2011, the Water Pollutant Discharge Standard for Fermented Alcohol and Baijiu Industry, drafted by the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences, the China Brewing Industry Association and the Environmental Engineering Assessment Center of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, was approved by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, replacing the previously implemented Integrated Wastewater Discharge Standard, and regulating the wastewater discharge of Baijiu enterprises. This is just a microcosm of the current promotion of environmental protection in China's liquor industry. However, we should still be aware of the current environmental protection situation in the Baijiu industry. The ambiguous legislation or the multiple use of one law still exist, which seriously affects the effectiveness of environmental law enforcement.
Secondly, it is necessary to enforce orders and prohibitions. The authority of the law is a strong backing for the implementation of environmental protection. For enterprises that are indifferent to laws and regulations, strict laws must be in place to constrain them. The law must become a red line that cannot be crossed, forcing enterprises to implement relevant requirements and safeguard the implementation of environmental protection. This is not only something that the Chinese brewing industry must adhere to, but also around the world, various wine varieties have made corresponding environmental protection and construction measures to ensure the quality of their own categories. In fact, emerging wine regions around the world are placing increasing emphasis on environmental protection. For example, the United States, based on the concept of origin and the actual development of its own wine industry, has developed an American Wine Origin (AVA) system that meets its own needs. The AVA origin system has successfully protected and standardized wine production.
It should be noted that although industrialization may be a common phenomenon in the new world, it does not represent everything. In some famous high-quality production areas, each winery has even stricter requirements for the brewing process and craftsmanship than in the Old World. For example, in Napa Valley, there are many wineries that use manual grape picking to filter out bad grapes in the first place and ensure the quality of the wine. At the same time, because Napa Valley became the first agricultural protected area in the United States in 1986, it has the status of a global wine producing region.
If you are still indifferent to climate change on a global scale, then this research result may lead you to consider the issue from another perspective - a survey by the Scottish Whisky Association (SWA) shows that global warming and climate deterioration may affect whiskey production. As early as 2001, as part of the UK Climate Impact Programme (UKCIP), the Scotch Whisky Association commissioned the Scottish Whisky Research Institute (SWRI) to conduct a scope study to demonstrate the irreversible impact of environmental change on whisky and to raise awareness among whisky practitioners and enthusiasts about environmental protection. The results of this over a decade long study indicate that whisky produced in Scotland has been affected by climate change as follows:
The decrease in river water level leads to a reduction in the source of water for brewing; The increase in summer temperature leads to an overall rise in water temperature, thereby reducing the efficiency of brewing; Reduced snowfall in some areas of Scotland has led to groundwater recharge and polluted river water sources; Increased snowfall in some areas of Scotland has led to environmental changes in aging warehouses and affected their normal operations; Climate change has caused waves to surge in coastal areas, affecting ferry transportation to various islands, and posing problems for the supply of raw materials and transportation of finished wine for island distilleries; Climate change is also one of the reasons for the fluctuation of grain prices, and the surge in grain prices has led to market instability, thereby affecting the production of distilleries. After studying a series of issues related to climate change, the Scottish Whisky Association has identified the biggest problem that Scottish whisky production will face in the future.
The traditional whiskey techniques such as malting, distillation, and aging have evolved to this day thanks to the relatively stable climate environment over the past few hundred years. It can be said that these manufacturing processes are highly sensitive to temperature, and once permanent climate change occurs, it will inevitably have an impact on these processes. Even more extreme is that even short-term weather disasters can have a devastating impact on the entire Scottish whisky producing region. So, climate change is a challenge for the global Scottish whisky market.
Climate change not only threatens whisky, but also poses a question for the whisky industry - how should whisky distilleries respond to this threat and contribute to addressing climate change? Diageo, a liquor giant with at least 24 Scottish whisky brands, set 8 environmental goals in 2015 to reduce pollution and save water, but none of them were achieved. In that year, Diageo remained a major contributor to wastewater pollution in the industry, while also proving the extremely difficult part of the whiskey industry - how to balance market demand and environmental protection.
The climate threat facing Scotland is actually a part of global environmental change, which is not just a problem that environmental agencies or whisky practitioners need to face, but is closely related to each and every one of us. If you have been indifferent to environmental issues, then perhaps you should really reconsider for your favorite liquor.
