- Region
- Águilas
- Alhama de Murcia
- Jumilla
- Lorca
- Los Alcázares
- Mazarrón
- San Javier
-
ALL AREAS & TOWNS
- AREAS
- SOUTH WEST
- MAR MENOR
- MURCIA CITY & CENTRAL
- NORTH & NORTH WEST
- TOWNS
- Abanilla
- Abarán
- Aguilas
- Alamillo
- Alcantarilla
- Aledo
- Alhama de Murcia
- Archena
- Balsicas
- Blanca
- Bolnuevo
- Bullas
- Cañadas del Romero
- Cabo de Palos
- Calasparra
- Camping Bolnuevo
- Campo De Ricote
- Camposol
- Canada De La Lena
- Caravaca de la Cruz
- Cartagena
- Cehegin
- Ceuti
- Cieza
- Condado de Alhama
- Corvera
- Costa Cálida
- Cuevas De Almanzora
- Cuevas de Reyllo
- El Carmoli
- El Mojon
- El Molino (Puerto Lumbreras)
- El Pareton / Cantareros
- El Raso
- El Valle Golf Resort
- Fortuna
- Fuente Alamo
- Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
- Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
- Isla Plana
- Islas Menores & Mar de Cristal
- Jumilla
- La Azohia
- La Charca
- La Manga Club
- La Manga del Mar Menor
- La Pinilla
- La Puebla
- La Torre
- La Torre Golf Resort
- La Unión
- Las Palas
- Las Ramblas
- Las Ramblas Golf
- Las Torres de Cotillas
- Leiva
- Librilla
- Lo Pagan
- Lo Santiago
- Lorca
- Lorquí
- Los Alcázares
- Los Balcones
- Los Belones
- Los Canovas
- Los Nietos
- Los Perez (Tallante)
- Los Urrutias
- Los Ventorrillos
- Mar De Cristal
- Mar Menor
- Mar Menor Golf Resort
- Mazarrón
- Mazarrón Country Club
- Molina de Segura
- Moratalla
- Mula
- Murcia City
- Murcia Property
- Pareton
- Peraleja Golf Resort
- Perin
- Pilar de la Horadada
- Pinar de Campoverde
- Pinoso
- Playa Honda
- Playa Honda / Playa Paraíso
- Pliego
- Portmán
- Pozo Estrecho
- Puerto de Mazarrón
- Puerto Lumbreras
- Puntas De Calnegre
- Region of Murcia
- Ricote
- Roda Golf Resort
- Roldan
- Roldan and Lo Ferro
- San Javier
- San Pedro del Pinatar
- Santiago de la Ribera
- Sierra Espuña
- Sucina
- Tallante
- Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
- Torre Pacheco
- Totana
- What's On Weekly Bulletin
- Yecla
- EDITIONS: Spanish News Today Alicante Today Andalucia Today
Date Published: 13/08/2024
Murcia vineyards experiment with solar panels for tastier wine
Six tonnes of delicious Merseguera grapes have been harvested from these innovative plots in Cartagena, Jumilla and Yecla
The Region of Murcia has several award-winning wines but with so many top-class grape growers to choose from, competition is fierce to make the product even better year after year. That’s why three vineyards in Cartagena, Yecla and Jumilla are experimenting with solar panels, and investigating whether the shade generated has any impact on the taste of their wine.
This ground-breaking trial is the brainchild of the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT) and the solar panels have been installed on part of the plot of the Tomás Ferro Experimental Agro-Food Station. This week, six tonnes of the Merseguera grape, native to the Campo de Cartagena, has been harvested. While the majority will be used to produce the famous Tomás Ferro white wine, some will be held back to discover whether or not they’ve been improved by the photovoltaic system.
“The aim is to integrate photovoltaic energy into the vineyards without affecting their production,” explains Javier Padilla, head of the Enovoltaics project at UPCT.
The panels in this project are placed in such a way that they only add 3% shade to the trunk of the vine and nothing to the leaves or grapes. The shading is calculated to basically affect the paths between the vines, so the researchers are measuring whether this generates water savings by increasing the soil’s water retention capacity.
At the Cartagena vineyard, 200 litres of experimental wine will be made with the grapes collected from the shaded vines and compared with non-shaded plants. The same will be done in Yecla and Jumilla when the grapes are ready to be harvested.
While researchers are hoping that the process will produce superior-tasting wine, if the project is a success its implementation could help the environment in a very real way, avoiding the monthly emission of some 60 tonnes of CO2 per hectare.
A study carried out by researchers from the Advanced Materials for Energy Production and Storage group at UPCT already indicated earlier this year that up to 1,377 tonnes/year of nitrate fertilisers can be avoided and water use can be reduced by up to 27 Hm3/year, by integrating solar modules with photovoltaic technology in agricultural areas of the Mar Menor.
In other news: EU reintroduces 100ml liquid rule at Spanish airports
Image: Freepik
Loading
Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox
Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)
OR
you can sign up to our FREE weekly roundup!
Read some of our recent bulletins:
25% Discount Special Offer subscription:
36.95€ for 48 Editor’s Weekly News Roundup bulletins!
Please CLICK THE BUTTON to subscribe.
(List price 3 months 12 Bulletins)
Read more stories from around Spain:
Contact Murcia Today: Editorial 000 000 000 /
Office 000 000 000