Cannabis Growing and Energy Output
There is a growing issue in the cannabis industry that has just begun to come to light " energy use. An independent study by Dr Evan Mills, a researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, found that 1% of all electricity in the United States is used by indoor marijuana grow operations " costing the country around $6 billion annually. If you grow at home, you may have noticed a sharp spike in the amount of energy your household consumes, or your energy use might have doubled since you began the twelve-hour light and dark cycling for your plants. According to UC Berkeley researchers, in-door plant grow lamps are 500 times more intense than a standard reading light; they are comparable to high-intensity lamps used in surgery operating theaters in hospitals. So how much energy does the typical home grow use? How can you tell if you're using more than the standard amount, and what can you do to reduce your grow's energy consumption? How much energy does a large commercial grow use, and how much does it cost? How much of commercial cannabis' energy use is renewable, and what are the alternatives for home growers and commercial growers? Is it possible to break even on energy use so that power is put back into the grid? These are all questions we may ask ourselves when we see that expensive energy bill this month.
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