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Politics : Politics of Energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (58115)	9/13/2014 12:35:15 PM
From: Brumar89	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 86356

The Straight Dope: Marijuana Cultivation Uses A Lot Of Electricity The Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NPCC) is eyeing the impact of legalized cannabis production in Washington State, and based on the experience of Colorado, the Council estimates an increase in future electricity demand ranging from 80 to over 160 megawatts. This increase is partly because the process of growing has moved indoors, where it can be optimized and accelerated in a controlled environment. In fact, one can shorten the second (high summer) crop growth cycle from 8-12 weeks down to 8-10 weeks. During the spring first crop, that advantage is even more pronounced, dropping from 12-14 weeks to 6-8 weeks. Image: NPCC – outdoor growth profile Image: NPCC – indoor profile The industry is an energy hog, and highly inefficient at present. According to Mother Jones, an indoor module which can handle four plants uses as much electric energy as 29 standard refrigerators. Where does that energy go? It’s dedicated to lighting (from 1,000 watt metal halide lamps which are dedicated to from two to eight plants) which makes up the largest share, at an estimated 38%. Venting and dehumidification uses about 30% of the load , followed by air conditioning at 21% (largely to handle waste heat from lighting). Space heating, water movement, carbon dioxide injection and drying account for the remaining 11%. There is clearly an opportunity for a huge energy efficiency initiative here. Lighting would be the area to start with, and initial tests have shown that use of LEDs can increase total harvest by up to 6% while increasing the yield per kilowatt-hour by 48%. Image: NPCC There may also be some opportunity for demand response. The NPCC indicates that the usage profiles are all over the map, and have the potential to drive significant peak load. Image: NPCC Today, we have people intently focused on the energy impact of data centers and how clean your cloud is. Tomorrow, we may have folks focused on reducing the carbon intensity of a different kind of ‘cloud’. Given how energy intensive the burgeoning pot industry is, somebody needs to come up with a low carbon version of ‘LEED Weed.’ http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterdetwiler/2014/09/10/the-straight-dope-marijuana-cultivation-uses-a-lot-of-electricity/