Cannabis currently exists in three strains: sativa, indica, and ruderalis. Ruderalis has the lowest THC, making it the least potent. That’s not to say that sativa is the highest, though. The indica strain is the most common, the variety most seen in people and in weed shops. It’s the “stone” sativa and the “body buzz” sativa.
Growing cannabis indoors is an energy-intensive process. A few years ago, growers began experimenting with different ways to produce cannabis indoors, from hydroponics to LED lighting. Today, most successful indoor pot farms rely on hydroponics, which has the advantage of being faster and more efficient than other methods. In other words, it produces fewer plants, with less waste, and requires less time, electricity, and water.
While growing marijuana is a great way to get high and relieve stress, it’s also energy-intensive, due to the need for electricity, water, and fertilizer. To grow a single batch of pot, you’d need to combine an electric water heater, a fan, and a set of lights into one large, energy-hungry unit. This setup is why growing a single plant can cost in excess of $1,000.
In his 2022 budget, President Joe Biden included a provision first proposed by Republican Congressman Andy Harris of Maryland that would prevent DC from legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana, even after residents voted to legalize possession in 2014. While this budget provision is clearly at odds with Biden’s support for Washington autonomy, it is also the latest example of Biden’s conservative views on marijuana – views that could have serious implications for the climate crisis. Because marijuana is not federally legal, cannabis producers are not allowed to ship their products outside the state, as Emily Atkin explains in a recent issue of her newsletter, Biden’s anti-pot budget is anti-climate. Rolling Stone calls cannabis an enemy of the climate because cannabis, which is sold in every state where it is legal, must be grown in those states. Because not all states have year-round warm climates in which cannabis can thrive, the majority of cannabis is grown indoors in large facilities. As Evan Mills notes in a recent article in Slate, there are other reasons why indoor cannabis cultivation is thriving, from misconceptions about the potency of indoor cannabis to retailers who tend to put outdoor-grown products on the bottom shelf. Mills says the only way to make cannabis truly green is to grow it outside. A study by Colorado State University scientists, published in March, is frequently cited in discussions about weeds, regulations and the environment. In the study, researchers calculated the energy costs of indoor marijuana cultivation in 1,000 U.S. communities and found that indoor marijuana cultivation not only contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, but also has different environmental impacts from state to state (in Colorado, marijuana emissions exceed those from coal). Slate spoke with Haley Summers, lead author of the study and a doctoral student at Colorado State University, to learn more about marijuana’s impact on the climate and the federal government’s role in addressing it. This interview has been shortened and edited for clarity.
Sofia Andrade: Is there a reason why cannabis cultivation consumes so much energy? Are all plants like this?
Haley Summers: We currently have an extension project studying and comparing other plants, but if I had to speculate, I think most plants grown indoors have high emissions, mainly due to the lighting and environmental controls needed to maintain a certain indoor climate to keep the plants happy. I think there are properties of cannabis that make the emissions slightly higher, such as the extra carbon dioxide that cannabis growers emit indoors. They inject CO2 into bottles or burn natural gas on site to get the CO2 in.
Why add carbon dioxide?
This increases the rate of photosynthesis and makes your plants grow bigger and faster, giving you more flowers faster. Some other indoor systems do, but most crops can’t afford it because the product doesn’t have much economic value, so they can’t afford all those extra operating costs.
What is the effect of the addition of CO2 on total emissions?
CO2 alone accounts for 11-25% of total emissions at all the locations we have worked in the US. It can represent up to a quarter of the total emissions from a single site. And that’s a conservative estimate. We have only taken into account emissions related to actual CO2 emissions, transport and use of CO2 in the building. What we have not considered is that, for example, if growers introduce a CO2 molecule and it is not taken up by the plants, it then enters the environment through the aeration systems.
In your study, you found that cannabis cultivation is more carbon intensive in some locations than others, even when indoor locations are compared. Why is that?
We have found that there are two main elements to consider with respect to geographic location. The first is a mix of meshes and the second is the weather. If you use electricity in California, New York or Texas, the emissions per kilowatt-hour of electricity coming out of the wall are different in each location, depending on what utilities in that area use to generate electricity. There is a lot of solar energy in California. Compared to coal, solar energy does not emit as many pollutants in the production of electricity, so California’s power grid is quite clean. If you were to locate your plant in Texas or Colorado, we have a lot of coal and natural gas, so those energy sources have much higher emissions when producing electricity. Weather conditions play an important role because the plants must have access to fresh air from outside. The HVAC system uses a constant supply of fresh outside air and easily refreshes it according to the desired comfort level for the plants. When HVAC units change outdoor air, they need more energy to change that air during extreme weather conditions. If you are constantly growing plants in Michigan and it is very cold half the year, but the plants want 75 degrees indoors, it takes more energy in Michigan to constantly adjust the outdoor air and change it to comfortable indoor air.
Is growing cannabis outdoors more environmentally friendly?
We have made preliminary estimates of external emissions. We [looked at the indoor environment and] said: If we take out all uses of the artificial environment – all artificial lighting, air conditioning through heating, ventilation and cooling – what is left? If we exclude everything that has to do with indoor cultivation, emissions would drop by 80%. But it has not yet been studied at the level I have studied for indoor growing. The next step in the study will therefore be to identify greenhouse gas emissions and off-site emissions with quantitative measures.
What would be the effect on climate change if marijuana were legal at the federal level?
I think one thing that could happen is that industry takes over the experience of food production in the United States. We have central collection points for many crops and they are then transported throughout the United States. This is not possible with cannabis. You can’t grow in one state, cross the state line and sell in another state. Even if you grow your product indoors, you can move those closed factories to better locations, whether that’s a clean climate or the weather doesn’t have to change too much, and then transport them to states that don’t have the right climate or clean emissions from their network, the emissions from the trucking will be very, very small compared to the difference [in emissions] of just moving the factory. I think federal legalization can help make that happen. I also hope that there will be more funding for people who want to explore this path. Currently, there is no federal money for cannabis research because it is illegal.When it comes to weight, smoking pot might not seem like a big deal, but growing and harvesting it is. One pound of pot takes a lot of energy to grow and harvest, depending on the strain. So, when you smoke it, you’re essentially using up energy that you could have used to do anything else. Also, with the energy costs of growing, you’re getting a smaller amount of usable marijuana for your buck. This isn’t even taking into consideration the cost of smoking it.. Read more about how much electricity does a grow light use and let us know what you think.
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