Pot is power hungry: why the marijuana industry's energy footprint is growing

Source: The Guardian

Pot is power hungry: why the marijuana industry's energy footprint is growing

Melanie Sevcenko
Saturday 27 February 2016 13.58 GMT

Marijuana might look and smell natural, but its ecological footprint is anything but green. Pot is power hungry.

The $3.5bn cannabis industry is one of the nation’s most energy intensive, often demanding 24-hour indoor lighting rigs, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems at multiplying grow sites.

As many as 10 states could legalize recreational marijuana this year, which means the resultant electricity consumption could cause problems for public utilities and city officials.

A study by scientist Evan Mills, with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, revealed that legalized indoor marijuana-growing operations account for 1% of total electricity use in the US, at a cost of $6bn per year. Annually, such consumption produces 15m tons of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2), equal to that of three million average cars.

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Cannabis growers are moving slowly toward energy efficient practices, largely out of fear for how changes might affect the quality of their product.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/27/marijuana-industry-huge-energy-footprint