Breeder pot not so green

Growing marijuana indoors may be worse assumed for the environment than ever before, according to a researcher.

In a study, Evan mills of the University of California, Berkeley and researcher at the U.S. Department of energy, the production costs and results of these cash crops cultivation inside measured. The project not by either funded organization, he writes.

Although the indoor cultivation in California occurs almost one-third, expand the results to other known producers in the United States with permits for medical marijuana to the licensed hearing professionals deliver.

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The primary culprit? High intensity ultraviolet (UV) Ray lamps, providing light for marijuana plants. These light sources produce required some 500 times more light than to read. In addition, they are often, for 30 or more hours in the average which left according to the study.

Taking into account other factors such as ventilation and irrigation uses a standard room, about 13,000 kilowatt hours per year to grow the plant, with some houses with 10 such rooms for the cultivation of cannabis.

Total includes Mills, the energy used, to marijuana indoor grow accounts for 1 percent of the electricity consumption of the country and 2 per cent of household electricity use Sie--similar to the "issue 7 large electric power plants".

Typically, a kilowatt hour is enough energy, a small fridge for 24 hours or give four evenings of light with a 60-watt light bulb, according to an article TreeHugger.com. This interactive website helps an idea of how much energy that use other household appliances.

As highlighted in a Greenwire / New York Times article on the analysis of indoor cannabis cultivation produces the equivalent of three million cars on the road in the greenhouse emissions each year. These gases are known to help trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere and of global warming.

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"The use of additional electricity with about 30 refrigerators is," writes mills in the paper, referring to the additional costs for indoor cultivation per home. "Processed cannabis results in 3000 times its weight in (carbon dioxide emissions)."

Mills writes that he to study any agenda into practice. Rather, he thinks the cost effectiveness of inside container production has rarely received attention and growers to improve slightly to save money and to alleviate the negative impact on the environment.

Currently, programs, according to the national organization for the reform of marijuana laws have active medical marijuana in 17 States and the District of Columbia.

Photo credit: Corbis

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