According to a study carried out by the research and development project Da Vide, originally presented at the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança in Portugal and at the University of Plasencia in Spain, reusing global agricultural waste would completely offset excess annual CO₂ emissions across the planet. By combining the reuse of agricultural and forestry waste, the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere would be decreased. This is an astonishing result that requires a significant change in the development model of the 20th century - but it would slow down or possibly even halt climate change, at least as far as CO₂ is concerned.

About 200 000 tonnes of CO₂ are emitted every year due to the burning or decomposition of grapevine residues, approximately one million tonnes of CO₂ in the Portuguese wine sector alone. There, in the Douro Valley, Da Vide has created a range of products using this biowaste – from paper and paints to pens, decorative objects and biocomposites – avoiding the use of plastics and wood and using agricultural waste as a resource. These products are sold locally in a region where tourism is an important sector.

Da Vide will soon be presenting a study to demonstrate that their main partner Quinta da Avessada - an important wine tourism enterprise in the Douro Valley - has negative CO₂ emissions despite its intense activity. Recovering pruning residues from its vineyards means that the vines absorb more CO₂ each year than is generated by the farm's tourism activity.