## 4 Conclusions  
This research involved the environmental characterization of the impacts assigned to the production of 1 ton of NCA in a gravel pit in Spain which does not use explosives in its production process, in addition to assessing the possibility of offsetting the equivalent  
Figure 6: Results of the mitigation of environmental impacts through the cultivation of vines in the production of coarse natural aggregates in gravel pits. (**a**) Vineyard area (km\({}^{2}\)). (**b**) kg of CO\({}_{2}\) eq captured. (**c**) Natural coarse aggregates zero CO\({}_{2}\) (Mt).  
CO\({}_{2}\) emissions in the global warming impact category through the creation of vine crops. Among its most outstanding results are the following:  
The production of 1 ton of NCA is associated with the emission of 4.30 kg CO\({}_{2}\) eq, an energy consumption of 106.06 MJ from fossil fuels and the use of 12.52 m\({}^{3}\) of water. The activity causing the greatest impact in the environmental impact categories is the use and combustion of diesel, with impact values ranging from 8.74% to 97.95%, followed by the activity of internal transport of aggregates.  
In S1, the use of explosives to produce natural aggregates increases impacts in all categories by 135.54% on average, with substantial increases in certain impact categories such as Acidification (268.58%), Eutrophication (249.73%), Oxidation Photochemical (240.10%), Abiotic Depletion Elements (749.69%), and land use (180.91%).  
The generation of 1 ha of vine cultivation aimed at mitigating CO\({}_{2}\) emissions means the possibility of creating 879.6 tons of natural coarse aggregates free of CO\({}_{2}\) emissions, as 1 ha of vine cultivation produces a net balance of emissions of \(-\)3.78 tCO\({}_{2}\), acting as a carbon sink. Extrapolation of this preliminary hypothetical scenario to the whole of Spain yields results of a production of 816.36 Mt of CO\({}_{2}\) eq free NCA, if vine cultivation is used as an impact mitigation measure. Its production varies greatly in the different Autonomous Communities of Spain. The concept of sustainable construction is adopted in the production of coarse natural aggregates generated in gravel pits and gives rise to the evaluation of other possible environmental mitigations of this crop in different impact categories to that of global warming in future research.  
A future line of research could be to apply the concept of offsetting environmental impacts developed in this research to a specific case study. Therefore, where the surface area of the gravel pit and therefore its aggregate production per surface area are known, determining the timeframe for offsetting CO\({}_{2}\) emissions if, once the useful life of the gravel pit is over, the land is restored to vine cultivation would open up new avenues of sustainability for companies in the aggregates sector.  
Methodology, J.L.S.-O., E.F.-G. and J.F.-C.; Validation, J.F.-C.; Investigation, J.L.S.-O. and E.F.-G.; Writing--original draft, J.L.S.-O.; Writing--review and editing, J.L.S.-O.; Supervision, [PERSON]-G. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research was funded by the University of La Rioja, gran number REGI22/41 and the Institute of Rioja Studies gran number Scientific Studies on La Rioja Issues 2025-2025. Also, the author [PERSON] is a predoctoral researcher funded by the University of La Rioja and Santander Bank.  
Not applicable.  
The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.  
The authors are very grateful to the University of La Rioja and the Institute of Rioja Studies for their support.  
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.  
The following abbreviations are used in this manuscript:  
NA Natural Coarse Aggregate  
LCA Life Cycle Assessment  
LCI Life Cycle Inventory  
EPD Environmental Declaration Product