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InvisibleMostly_HarmlessM
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Legal Pot Farmers Hope to Grow a Green Energy Revolution
    #23909080 - 12/09/16 02:56 AM (7 years, 2 months ago)

http://www.seeker.com/legal-pot-farmers-hope-to-grow-a-green-energy-revolution-2133553349.html

Quote:

Dec 7, 2016

Electricity-intensive cannabis production has a big carbon footprint, but with legalization, some eco-conscious growers want to make pot a shining model of sustainability.

After a flood of pro-pot ballot measures in November, recreational marijuana use will soon be legal in eight U.S. states plus the District of Columbia, and medical marijuana will be legal in 29 states. Barring a federal clampdown from the incoming Trump administration, analysts expect legal cannabis to be a boom industry, particularly in California, the world's sixth largest economy.

But as billions in investment dollars flow westward to build large new cannabis production facilities, conservation groups and eco-conscious growers are troubled by the growing carbon footprint of pot production.

"Marijuana is the most energy-intensive manufacturing process in America," said Timothy Hade, co-founder of Scale Energy Solutions, a startup that consults cannabis producers on energy efficiency. "Producing a pound of marijuana uses 300 times the amount of energy than producing a pound of aluminum."

That's because more than 90 percent of legal weed in the United States is grown indoors using lights. Conventional grow lights not only suck up tons of electricity, but they produce intense residual heat. To keep grow room temperatures in the high 80s, indoor operations have to pump in air conditioning, another huge electric load. Then there are the fans to circulate air and the water pumps to feed the hydroponic channels. By various estimates, the energy demands of an indoor growing operation make up between 20 and 40 percent of the total cost of production.

As electric utilities in Western states work to meet ambitious emissions standards, legal pot is becoming the newest environmental nuisance. In Colorado, the Denver-based utility Xcel Energy reported that electricity use rose 1.2 percent in 2015 and nearly half of the increase was from indoor pot farms.

A 2011 report estimated that indoor cannabis production consumed 1 percent of total U.S. electricity and equaled the greenhouse gas emissions of three million cars per year.

"One percent may sound like a small number, but in context of our electrical grid, it's massive," said Hade, whose own calculations puts the number a little lower, between 0.4 and 0.8 percent of total electricity use. "We spend six times more electricity growing cannabis than the entire pharmaceutical industry."

Conservationists fear that if energy-efficient growing standards aren't put into place now, marijuana has the potential to become one of the "dirtiest" industries in America in terms of energy burned per pound of product.

Derek Smith is the founder and executive director of the Resource Innovation Institute (RII), an Oregon-based nonprofit working to create green standards for the cannabis industry before it's too late.

"There's definitely a gold-rush mentality," said Smith, whose technical advisory team is busy creating a "competitive facility checklist" as an energy-efficiency blueprint for new growers. "Frankly, we don't have time to wait for standards to be perfected if we want to influence the way these facilities are designed and constructed and maintained."

With the right standards in place, though, Smith and his consortium of "green" pot advocates believe that the cannabis industry can not only shed its nagging reputation as an "energy hog," but become a shining model of sustainability.

Jeremy Plumb, a Portland-based grower, dispensary owner and adviser to the RII, is building a 40,000 square-foot greenhouse facility called Newcleus Nurseries as a laboratory and showcase for green growing technology. The glass-walled growhouse will use the most efficient (and expensive) LED lighting to supplement Portland's skimpy sunshine, and tap its own 12-acre field of solar panels for electricity.

"Cannabis can be the new 'green revolution,'" said Plumb. "The same technology we're using could be used to grow food in vertical farms."

LED lighting represents the biggest efficiency upgrade for any indoor growing operation. The upfront costs can be substantial — a high-efficiency LED light costs more than $1,300 compared to around $400 for a conventional high-pressure sodium bulb — but the long-term savings add up. For starters, a conventional bulb needs to be replaced twice a year, while an LED can last for several years. But the biggest savings come through lower energy use and lower cooling costs.

Fluence Bioengineering is a producer of high-end LED grow lights for cannabis and indoor agriculture at large. According to field studies from cannabis clients, a Fluence LED uses 40 percent of the energy as a conventional bulb. And because LEDs produce far less heat, the load on the HVAC system was reduced by 35 percent per square foot of growing space.

The trick is convincing anxious new cannabis investors to think past short-term profits toward long-term sustainability. Benjamin Franz is director of research and development for MJardin, a cannabis cultivation management company with more than 500,000 square feet of legal weed in production.

"A lot of newer clients are increasingly interested in the energy-efficient technologies, but the minute the see the price tag of some of the lighting solutions, they often reconsider the importance," said Franz.

If the recent price volatility in Colorado is any indication, cannabis growers might be forced to turn to energy efficient technologies simply to cut costs.

"At the beginning of year in Colorado, the price of wholesale flower was $2,000 a pound. Today's it's between $1,000 and $1,200 a pound," said Hade of Scale Energy Solutions. "If you run an energy-efficient facility that can produce the product for five to 10 percent cheaper, those growers are going to win."

Hade himself is a newcomer to the cannabis industry. He and his partners used to work as clean energy consultants in the healthcare sector, until he realized that cannabis cultivation was the perfect match for a sustainable microgrid, Hade's specialty.

"Because of the way the crop is grown, most of the energy in a cultivation facility is being used 24/7/365," said Hade, which results in a stable and predictable electricity load, unusual in any building or factory. "They also have a really big thermal load, and one of best opportunities for energy efficiency in the country today is using waste heat to offset thermal load."

Hade's ideal high-efficiency growing facility would be powered by a sustainable microgrid composed of three elements: solar PV panels for supplemental energy, lithium-ion batteries for storage and a natural gas-powered electric generator. The waste heat produced by the generator would be recaptured and used to power the cooling system. Such a system would cost between $2 and $3 million to set up.

Like the folks at the Resource Innovation Institute, Hade sees sustainable cannabis as a test case and a proving ground for technologies that could reduce energy consumption across all industrial sectors.

"We're very, very confident that the cannabis industry has the potential to be a springboard for the 'clean tech' industry," said Hade, with an emphasis on "potential."

Hade's startup has only been in business for six months and has yet to land its first paying cannabis client.



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Offlinerider420
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Re: Legal Pot Farmers Hope to Grow a Green Energy Revolution [Re: Mostly_Harmless]
    #23910472 - 12/09/16 02:39 PM (7 years, 2 months ago)

lumens per watt


ROLMFAO another sales job for people who don't have a clue!

As you can see for yourself LED light are less efficient then HPS or Metal Halide. That means they produce more HEAT then HPS or Metal Halide but if you trust a sales person you get what you deserve.

BTW you need to replace a Metal Halide bulb every two years not twice a year and HPS bulbs last twice as long.

Edited by rider420 (12/09/16 02:42 PM)

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OfflineKonyap

Registered: 06/30/07
Posts: 33,945
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Re: Legal Pot Farmers Hope to Grow a Green Energy Revolution [Re: rider420]
    #23911395 - 12/09/16 08:12 PM (7 years, 2 months ago)

advance LED sells LED lights

they have fans
uv
ir
really really great lights
you just cant put them in a place where a pet would look up at them
or somewhere they could ignite something

Edited by Konyap (12/09/16 08:12 PM)

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Invisiblepablokabute
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Re: Legal Pot Farmers Hope to Grow a Green Energy Revolution [Re: Konyap]
    #23912139 - 12/10/16 04:28 AM (7 years, 2 months ago)

Just fuckin grow under the sun via sunroof and supplement with LEDs


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Invisiblehummingbird

Registered: 06/29/14
Posts: 2,150
Re: Legal Pot Farmers Hope to Grow a Green Energy Revolution [Re: rider420]
    #23913476 - 12/10/16 03:29 PM (7 years, 2 months ago)

Quote:

rider420 said:
lumens per watt


ROLMFAO another sales job for people who don't have a clue!

As you can see for yourself LED light are less efficient then HPS or Metal Halide. That means they produce more HEAT then HPS or Metal Halide but if you trust a sales person you get what you deserve.

BTW you need to replace a Metal Halide bulb every two years not twice a year and HPS bulbs last twice as long.





I have to call BS here. Lumens are for humans. It's all about PAR for growing, and LED has that covered very well...even compared to enhanced HID light spectrums. I've seen what quality LEDS can do, its impressive. And they run waaay cooler than HID. Not a sales pitch, but firsthand observation.

You are right about HPS lasting longer than MH, but if you waited 2-4 years to change a bulb...you would  be seeing big drops in yields + quality.


Good article BTW.

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Offlinerider420
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Re: Legal Pot Farmers Hope to Grow a Green Energy Revolution [Re: hummingbird]
    #23916196 - 12/11/16 12:38 PM (7 years, 2 months ago)

Quote:

hummingbird said:


I have to call BS here. Lumens are for humans. It's all about PAR for growing, and LED has that covered very well...even compared to enhanced HID light spectrums. I've seen what quality LEDS can do, its impressive. And they run waaay cooler than HID. Not a sales pitch, but firsthand observation.

You are right about HPS lasting longer than MH, but if you waited 2-4 years to change a bulb...you would  be seeing big drops in yields + quality.


Good article BTW.




Then why are the huge multimillion dollar medical grow ops in Canada and the States not using LED lights? And why do they only change their bulbs every two to four years? If you believe what people post on illegal grow forums over what companies are doing that spend literally millions on their lighting, well then I have to question your logic.

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OfflineKonyap

Registered: 06/30/07
Posts: 33,945
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Re: Legal Pot Farmers Hope to Grow a Green Energy Revolution [Re: rider420]
    #23916254 - 12/11/16 01:02 PM (7 years, 2 months ago)

they're probably spending thousands to suck clean air in and out so it doesnt matter

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Invisibledurian_2008
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Re: Legal Pot Farmers Hope to Grow a Green Energy Revolution [Re: Konyap]
    #23916291 - 12/11/16 01:15 PM (7 years, 2 months ago)

I was of the opinion that the lifetime energy production of, say, a solar cell or windmill is calculable.

Also, so is it's energy consumption, from the mine to salesroom floor and eventual maintenance.

But, none of these "renewables" are ever closed-end processes, which can regenerate themselves.

I am probably being autistic and overly-literal about this, but I understood that mj can be used to make everything.

Until that point, I conceptualize this as a sort of financial vehicle, which becomes anemic, without regular infusions of cash, credit and matériel.

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Invisiblehummingbird

Registered: 06/29/14
Posts: 2,150
Re: Legal Pot Farmers Hope to Grow a Green Energy Revolution [Re: rider420]
    #23916688 - 12/11/16 03:34 PM (7 years, 2 months ago)

Quote:

rider420 said:
Then why are the huge multimillion dollar medical grow ops in Canada and the States not using LED lights? And why do they only change their bulbs every two to four years? If you believe what people post on illegal grow forums over what companies are doing that spend literally millions on their lighting, well then I have to question your logic.




I don't know where you are getting your info from about what all the major operations do. They might spend millions on lights, but they are still consumers buying  products (bulbs, hoods, fans, nutes, etc.). It doesn't make them the authority on what works best because they have money.

There are absolutely some major ops now using them, but LED grow lights are still a relatively new technology, and they are expensive up front. The only real complaint I've heard about them is the small footprint of most systems, but even that is rapidly changing.

Its the same fight with energy in general. Multi million/billion$ companies vested in coal and oil would lose some power/money for awhile switching everything over to a new format. It can take a while for a paradigm shift to occur.   

You posted a little chart from a company that sells power talking about efficiency of lights. They sell the electricity that runs those lights...there's no sales pitch in that anywhere? 

I typically ignore most of the stoner logic present on grow forums, but to personally(not just forum pics) see people getting the same or better results with half the energy bill using LED, is pretty strong evidence to me.:shrug:

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