Wine ethanol C-14 as a tracer for fossil fuel CO2 emissions in Europe: 
Measurements and model comparison

Palstra, S. W. L.; Karstens, U.; Streurman, H. J.; Meijer, H. A. J.

doi:10.1029/2008JD010282

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Wine ethanol C-14 as a tracer for fossil fuel CO₂ emissions in Europe: Measurements and model comparison

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Karstens, U.
Regional Scale Modelling of Atmospheric Trace Gases, Dr. U. Karstens, Department Biogeochemical Systems, Prof. M. Heimann, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Max Planck Society;

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2008JD010282
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Citation

Palstra, S. W. L., Karstens, U., Streurman, H. J., & Meijer, H. A. J. (2008). Wine ethanol C-14 as a tracer for fossil fuel CO₂ emissions in Europe: Measurements and model comparison. Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 113(D21), 21305. doi:10.1029/2008JD010282.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-000E-D72A-6

Abstract

C-14 (radiocarbon) in atmospheric CO₂ is the most direct tracer for the presence of fossil-fuel-derived CO₂ (CO₂-ff). We demonstrate the C-14 measurement of wine ethanol as a way to determine the relative regional atmospheric CO₂-ff concentration compared to a background site ("regional CO₂-ff excess'') for specific harvest years. The carbon in wine ethanol is directly back traceable to the atmospheric CO₂ that the plants assimilate. An important advantage of using wine is that the atmosphere can be monitored annually back in time. We have analyzed a total of 165 wines, mainly from harvest years 1990-1993 and 2003-2004, among which is a semicontinuous series (1973-2004) of wines from one vineyard in southwest Germany. The results show clear spatial and temporal variations in the regional CO₂-ff excess values. We have compared our measured regional CO₂-ff excess values of 2003 and 2004 with those simulated by the REgional MOdel (REMO). The model results show a bias of almost +3 parts per million (ppm) CO₂-ff compared with those of the observations. The modeled differences between 2003 and 2004, however, which can be used as a measure for the variability in atmospheric mixing and transport processes, show good agreement with those of the observations all over Europe. Correcting for interannual variations using modeled data produces a regional CO₂-ff excess signal that is potentially useful for the verification of trends in regional fossil fuel consumption. In this fashion, analyzing C-14 from wine ethanol offers the possibility to observe fossil fuel emissions back in time on many places in Europe and elsewhere. [References: 54]