A study from Lawrence Berkely National Library has claimed that when you smoke a blunt, you contribute indirectly to a little under a kilogram of carbon dioxide emissions. The same study suggests that US pot growers are responsible for 1% of national electricity consumption. So I guess it’s not that green after all. (Sorry.)
The study further showed that in California, the state that grows the most pot, the energy consumption stands at about 3% for all electricity use and 8% for household use – which I guess applies to home growers.
Pleasantly, the study also offers some advice on how to improve the efficiency of pot-growing setups:
If improved practices applicable to commercial agricultural greenhouses are any indication, the energy use for indoor Cannabis production can be reduced dramatically. Cost-effective efficiency improvements of 75% are conceivable, which would yield energy savings of about $25,000/year for a generic 10-module growing room. Shifting cultivation outdoors eliminates most energy uses (aside from transport), although the practice can impose other environmental impacts.
[Source: National Geographic]
