Written By: Samantha B. Hutto
I
have been working in the horticulture industry since 2006 and currently co-own
and operate a Colorado based consulting firm that specializes in build outs and
operations. We push for automation and urge our customers to make
environmentally conscious decisions when it comes to their grow. Although “weed
land” seems like a great place where we are all just high, happy, and very,
very hungry, it is actually filled with environmentally damaging processes that
must be addressed in order to keep us from getting tagged as destroyers of what
we all hold so dearly. Our Planet
More
than 1,200 licensed grow facilities compose almost half of the new demand for
power and water, which is being trucked into cultivation sites, at an
estimated, hundreds of thousands of gallons a day. There are plenty of other subjects to cover
when it comes to the efficiency and ethics of cannabis/commercial cultivation
but we need to find a solution to these two large issues that effects everyone
living in a state with legal weed. Water and power.
I
want these producers to see that there are ways to combat these issues and
allow all of us to play nicely together while keeping mother earth in a single
piece. I believe all large scale cannabis cultivation should be grown in an
automated facility while being environmentally conscious to energy and water
usage but it is currently and ultimately up to the morals and environmental
ethics of the operator. Harmful practices reflect badly on the industry as a
whole because we are all in this together, and so I believe we shall all go
down with the ship and take the blame. We forget its not all about weed but
creating a balance that is healthy for us and our environment.
Electricity
use statewide has been increasing by 1 percent to 2 percent a year, due in part
to population growth and legalization. Close to half of that increase comes
from our cultivation facilities. In 2014, growing sites consumed as much power
as 35,000 households. Our energy consumption is drastically increasing due to
legalization and cultivation facilities that depend on powerful equipment. Excessive
amounts of energy usage increase the amount of greenhouse gas emitted into the
air. These gas emissions include methane, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and
fluorinated gases. Lighting and dealing with heat load accounts for most of the
electrical cost in a commercial facility.
The
second issue at hand is our water consumption. Water rights in Colorado are
restricted to that of beneficial use such as irrigation but because a lot of
the water is owned by federal agencies and cannabis is not legal on that level,
they can deny the use of it. Right now a good percentage of facilities have to
acquire the means such as a tanker truck to transport the water necessary for
production. This can be consuming of money, time, and labor.
Our
excessive water usage can lead to serious damages to our aquifers. According to
my own calculations given the 1234 licenses X 3600 plant count minimum X 1
liter per day = A million gallons a day state wide just for cannabis and this
number is conservative since some facilities can acquire a license for 3X that
plant count. This is aiding in the depletion of natural water resources which
leads to the following damages: lowering of the water table, increased cost for
the user, reduction of water in streams and lakes, and not to mention that groundwater
pumping which lowers the groundwater levels below the depth that streamside or
wetland vegetation needs to survive. The overall effect is a loss of wildlife
habitat.
Colorado
and all other legal states need to implement these minute changes to our
cultivation facilities in order to combat our rising usages and prevent further
issues such as droughts. If there is never a requirement to make
environmentally smart choices cultivators will continue to purchase and use
inefficient equipment to save money and cut corners. We need to make the
technology and information available in order to change this.
In
an effort to conserve energy and water, all facilities would ideally be fully
automated for highest efficiency and include closed, recirculating systems for
water conservation, collecting water from HVAC systems, energy efficient
lighting to cut back on usage and if possible, supplemental clean energy. These
solutions can not be forced upon any cultivators but is left up to their own
environmental ethics. I hope to see regulation requiring efficiencies to be
built in but for now all we can do is educate the industry and hope that they
take it seriously.
I
have compiled 4 ways we can drastically lower our water and energy usage.
First, use closed systems allowing for recirculating of water. Professional
greenhouses don’t feed by hand whatsoever, so why on earth would cannabis be
any different? It’s not. It’s a matter of knowing what automated technology is
available, and not only how to use it, but how to get it and how to install it.
There are multiple closed systems to choose from including NFT (Nutrient Film Technique),
DWC (Deep Water Culture), or even Drip Systems. Second, gather, sterilize, and
reuse water from HVAC systems. Water collected will be ran through a UVC filter
killing all water borne plant pathogens. Depending on the amount of humidity
and temperature as well as the size of the plants, we can reclaim as much as
70% of the water irrigated to the plants. Third, buy efficient high voltage
lighting allowing for less energy usage. High voltage lights have less losses
in the conversion of electricity to output of light. Those losses are always in
the form of heat, meaning, the savings also saves energy on the cooling. Lastly,
invest in alternative energy to offset cost and usage. A medium-sized
commercial grow with around 50 lights stands to save about $13,500 in
electricity costs a year with the use of two Tesla Batteries. Many commercial
greenhouses utilize what’s called a total energy system where they convert
natural gas to electricity using small power plants of their own to help
supplement the grid.
As
new states legalize, I hope we learn to write in efficiency regulations as part
of the licensing requirements and existing states will amend the regulations as
well. This will create a much more efficient method that is environmentally
friendly in the long term. A lot of us are being blinded by the revenue that
can be produced from legal marijuana but we have an obligation to protect the
land and beings that live on it. I would prefer that we take our action now to
conserve water and energy before it has devastating effects that outweigh any
amount of money.
