How to Green Cannabis Cultivation
Cannabis cultivation could be more climate-friendly if practiced outdoors. A simpler solution would be to adopt equipment that uses less electricity. The Washington Post spoke with stakeholders in this industry, which has been made illegal in several US states.
Energy researcher Evan Mills couldn't believe his eyes: in 2010, while visiting a nursery near his home in Mendocino, California, he discovered, among the bags of soil and seedlings, enormous 1,000-watt bulbs usually used for nighttime highway lighting. When he asked the owner what he was doing with them, “he looked at me askance and said, ‘These are for growing cannabis, stupid. Everyone does that around here,' ” the scientist says.
The federal government rarely funds research on marijuana— officially considered more dangerous than fentanyl [a powerful opioid], cocaine, or methamphetamine—and cares even less about its energy footprint. So the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researcher embarked on a years-long quest, spending nights and weekends, to model the energy needs of the U.S. cannabis industry. His work is the most comprehensive in the field, according to growers, researchers, and lawmakers.
After interviewing grow lamp sellers, poring over specialist magazines and equipment manuals
Courrier International
