Where are weeds grown in the most environmentally friendly way?
On The Game’s “California Vacation,” Snoop Dogg proclaims, “We grow the best weed on the West Coast,” and while I’m biased, I totally agree. Still, cannabis is more than quality. Researchers studying the environmental effects of indoor growing with Snoop is the most sustainable place to grow indoor cannabis at LBC.
A study recently published in Nature is the first of its kind to attempt to quantify U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from growing cannabis indoors. The study found that:
- On average, growing one gram of cannabis in a commercial facility produces as much greenhouse gas as driving 15 kilometers in a car.
- Out of a pool of 1,011 cities modeled by Colorado State University researchers, the location had the lowest greenhouse gas emissions from indoor cannabis cultivation Long Beach, Californiawhere the growth of an ounce produces 143 pounds of carbon dioxide.
- The city with the highest emissions was Kaneohe Bay, Hawaiiwhere producing the same amount of cannabis indoors results in 324 pounds of CO2, roughly equivalent to burning 16 gallons of gasoline.
Grow where it is temperate
The Nature study is based on a new model of indoor grow inputs and outputs by Ph.D. Student Hailey Summers at the CSU School of Global Environmental Sustainability.
“We built a model from the ground up that models the commercial energy and material needs of cannabis,” says Summers, a graduate mechanical engineer. “So how much water does a commercial plant in general need, how many fertilizers, which types and then also a complete HVAC system.”
A fun element of research is an interactive map that allows people to tune in their county to see how it compares to others. For example, Pueblo, Colorado, which already has a unique outdoor growing facility called Pot Zero that is geared towards zero carbon emissions, has fewer indoor emissions than mountainous locations like Aspen.
The report shows that in Colorado, greenhouse gas emissions from the commercial cannabis industry are comparable to other sectors such as coal mining and garbage disposal, accounting for about 1.3% of the state’s total annual emissions. Many Colorado cities prohibit outdoor potting, and it takes a lot of energy to keep plants happy in a controlled indoor environment. Growers in harsh, cold locations like Colorado and the Midwestern states use much more electricity to optimize indoor temperature and humidity than growers in more temperate coastal climates like California and Washington. This means that the best places to grow cannabis outdoors are generally the best places to grow cannabis indoors.
“The results were quite extensive and higher than we thought.”
Hailey Summers, Colorado State University, Ph.D. college student
Air temperature plays an important role in how well plants can absorb CO2, an integral part of photosynthesis, but also the main driver of global climate change. A good temperature for growing marijuana is between 70 and 85 ° F (21-29 ° C), according to the Ed Rosenthal cannabis horticultural authority. The ideal temperatures for indoor cultivation fluctuate within this range, depending on the growth phase the plant is in. The optimal humidity also varies, as the plant’s growth process drops below 50%, for example in the last stages of flowering, in order to avoid mold.
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Plants need fresh air to grow and in indoor cannabis operations this air is drawn in from the outside and then brought to an optimal temperature and humidity. As the study shows, the average fluctuating volumetric air change per hour (ACH) for commercial indoor cannabis growers due to the power consumption of indoor growers for HVAC (heating, air conditioning, ventilation, dehumidifying) is 30 ACH. This number is much higher than the recommended ventilation for homes (0.35) and even hospitals that require at least 15 ACH.
“The results were pretty extensive and higher than we thought,” said Summers. “We don’t want to shut down the industry. That is not the point. The point is just to say that this is a rapidly emerging industry that is going nowhere for the foreseeable future, and in the good spirit of climate change, this is an industry that really should be noted before we get caught up in such bad practices as such stay. We have to focus on how we can do this sustainably. “
Grow on a cleaner trellis
Aside from the environmental impact of regulating the weather, the study showed that another component of indoor cannabis growing with the lowest possible carbon footprint depends on how “clean” the power grid is. In other words, how many renewable energy sources (solar, wind, water) generate electricity compared to how many “dirty” non-renewable sources (coal, oil, nuclear power). This secondary analysis put New York, which has a relatively clean electrical grid, high on the list of lowest emissions.
Using averages of the growing data points, the study reveals the best and worst places to grow cannabis indoors. It looks at each condition using hypothetical results generated by a computer model that took into account inputs like HPS lights and, the main culprit for CO2 emissions, regardless of where the researchers looked, HVAC systems. Light was the second highest variable that contributed to greenhouse gas emissions, and the research also included additional factors such as the additional use of CO2.
Growing marijuana in the sun
While the study recognizes the hurdles to be overcome, it speculates that shifting from indoor to outdoor cultivation could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 96%. Switching to greenhouse cultivation could also reduce emissions to 46%. In terms of possible solutions, the report highlights environmental efforts such as a controversial California proposal to require farmers to use more efficient LED lights by 2023 and a law in Illinois that limits light intensity and calls for high-efficiency HVAC equipment. It also alludes to an important solution, federal cannabis legalization, which could allow cannabis to be grown indoors at lower elevations and transported across the country.
“We need to be able to control and deliver a consistent quality product for certain types of consumables so that interiors don’t disappear completely,” says Summers. “But you can do other things, like For example, if you are growing to obtain THC and your main goal is to get a high amount of THC and the visual aesthetic of the product is not an issue, you can grow this product outdoors. Here, too, you can push it to the coast, where the plants grow naturally in this climate, and then transport it across national borders. “
One would expect indoor cannabis growers to back out who disagree with the report’s analysis, but Summers says it didn’t get much negative feedback. Her brother told her that she might want to read a Reddit thread with over 3,000 comments. Guilt, she says, could be directed in any number of places, including policy makers or the energy sector.
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“There are a lot of moving parts here,” says Summers. “It’s not that black and white either, your carbon footprint is bad, so …”
Ellen Holland
Ellen Holland is a journalist from Oakland who has been writing about cannabis since 2013. As the former editor-in-chief of Cannabis Now magazine, her new book “Weed: A Connoisseur’s Guide” will be published in October.
View article by Ellen Holland
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