As I follow the arguments against outdoor cannabis cultivation, I am reminded of a letter I sent several years ago about the energy-intensive indoor pot industry. That was when the Bernardston facility was being proposed.
Now the company has expanded, and I am still curious, and discouraged, that local discussions about this surging industry rarely address energy consumption. As I drive by the Bernardston “factory” daily, I marvel at the missed opportunity for all of us: for the company to increase public relations, for the town to use leverage to demand good stewardship, for the state trying to reach energy goals, and for the planet to maintain carbon levels.
In 2018, “… the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources said the energy it would take to power grow lights for 660,000 square feet of cannabis canopy could negate the energy-saving effect of DOER’s $11 million program to convert more than 130,000 streetlights statewide to LEDs.” (Worcester Business Journal, June 2, 2021).
One estimate projected the cannabis industry demands 10% of industrial energy consumption in our state. Another study says that “embedded in each average indoor grown plant is the energy equivalent of 70 barrels of oil.” That’s a lot of power to get high.
This problem has partial solutions. In Somerset, Solar Cannabis Co. has installed almost 70,000 sq. ft. of panels. However, most estimates would require much more solar than a roof could provide. Growing outdoors provides less yield, security issues, and of course the odor. People who have lived near dairy or chicken farms for millennia are acquainted with odor. Those problems seem easier to solve than climate changing emissions.
Before I get accused of targeting the marijuana industry, let me just say … those buildings have huge flat roofs! I have believed for years that our country should mandate solar on any large industrial or municipal new construction. I also understand that the industry creates jobs and supports town revenue. My point is that solar should be a much larger part of the conversation about this particularly energy hungry industry.
Andrew Vernon
Northfield