Smoke on This: Marijuana Growers Use One Percent of U.S. Electricity Supply

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Hey, hippies! Next time you light up that spliff filled with kind bud, consider this mind blower: One percent of U.S. electricity consumption — or the output of seven large electric power plants — is dedicated to growing marijuana indoors each year, according to a recent report. The upshot? Getting stoned on high-end specialty strains of weed commonly sold at medical marijuana dispensaries affects more than your wallet and appetite. Now there’s the environment to think about as well.

Granted, the indoor pot growing industry doesn’t have the same carbon footprint as say, petroleum refiners. But the impact isn’t negligible, either. About $5 billion worth of energy is used to grow weed, which generates 17 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. That’s equivalent to 3 million average American cars, according to the report.

As any pot farmer can tell you, it takes a huge amount of electricity to grow weed indoors. High utility bills are the bane of many a paranoid grower. Evan Mills, the Lawrence Berkeley National Labs analyst who authored the report, found the energy demands for pot are bigger than even marijuana mavens realized. Pot grown indoors requires lighting levels that match those found in hospital operating rooms. It also needs 30 hourly air changes, 60 times the rate in a modern home. That electricity intensity is on par with modern data centers.

Greening the weed business

Pot growers would enjoy huge financial benefits by becoming more energy efficient. Any improvements within the field are likely to be scattered, at best. Pot growers are a highly disjointed and secretive bunch. It’s difficult to create a national energy-efficiency movement when you don’t know who to reach out to. The industry doesn’t have to adhere to any state or federal energy efficiency standards either. (Go figure.)

Energy efficiency is a question that states, especially ones like California with high electricity demand and a burgeoning indoor growing industry, may be forced to contend with eventually. To date, 17 states allow people to grow pot for medical purposes. And many more are considering passing similar laws.

For those folks who think renewable energy is the answer: think again. According to Mills, installing solar panels at the growing operation site doesn’t make sense:

Using solar to power inefficient systems is a waste. A costly, mega-sized solar system to run a bunch of inefficient lights, fans, and chillers in a single house would just give solar a bad name. For the same investment, many dozens of conventional houses could be made highly energy efficient and then be solar-powered all the way to zero carbon emissions. This would provide much more carbon-bang for the buck.

Other tidbits from the Energy Up In Smoke study:

• Smoking a joint is equivalent to keeping a 100-watt light bulb on for 17 hours.;
  
• Growing one kilo of weed is equivalent to driving across the country 5 times in a 44-mile per gallon car.
  
• One single production module (4×4x8-foot chamber) doubles the electricity use of an average U.S. home and triples that of an average California home. A single grow house can have 10 or more such modules.
  

http://www.bnet.com/blog/clean-energy/smoke-on-this-marijuana-growers-use-one-percent-of-us-electricity-supply/4761

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

oh what a quandary for the hippies!

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

if were legalized, it would be grown more in the open right?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

if were legalized, it would be grown more in the open right?

It is de facto legal in California, and big business. I even hear ads on the radio for the growing equipment necessary to meet the current expectations in quality.

Matter of fact, on my Facebook news feed, there is one buddy offering free half hour massages to promote the opening of a new "alternative health clinic".

Edited April 12, 2011 by Some Old Guy

[dalegg 143]

Are they adding in the additional electricity used by the added hours of Video game use?

[The Dude 206]

Legalize it, regulate it, and tax it in the same manner alcohol and tobacco are and the state will not only become solvent, but you'll decrease costs (costs associated with incarceration and enforcement) and increase the local economies here in California. Don't need a "massage" to promote that

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Feasibility of Solar Panels for Hidden Grow Room setup

It's possible to generate electricity from a photovoltaic array for ~$.16-.22/kWh, counting in inverter and flooded lead acid battery replacement costs. If solar panels were produced in higher volume, price would drop. Most areas in the U.S., coal is used to make electricity at about $.05-.07/kWh but the consumer is generally charged about $.10-.15/kWh. Solar panels have a rated lifespan of 20 years by industry, but in reality, can last over 40, which would greatly lower electricity cost.

Wind is cheaper than solar. Over the life of a small turbine, electricity can be made for about $.04-.06/kWh, around $.10/kWh counting inverter and battery. The problem with wind is that it only generates real power and not reactive power. This is easily solved by power factor correction.

Alternative energy is perfect for a hidden grow operation. I will elaborate why.

Stoned Engineer Toked it all for science!

http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-room-design-setup/157079-feasibility-solar-panels-hidden-grow-room-setup.html

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Legalize it, regulate it, and tax it in the same manner alcohol and tobacco are and the state will not only become solvent, but you'll decrease costs (costs associated with incarceration and enforcement) and increase the local economies here in California. Don't need a "massage" to promote that

What is interesting in this part of California, as more and more operations are becoming "legit", the businesses don't seem as profitable as they once were, after they pay the taxes and license fees, and comply with all the environmental and land use regulations, not to mention bookkeeping costs. It really has gone commercial, as only the bigger operations can afford to comply with the law, and the ones that don't, face tax evasion charges, as the sellers have to report where they get their "merchandise".