Cannabis plants are grown in the cloning room of Aurora Deutschland GmbH, a manufacturer of medical cannabis products, on September 11, 2023 in Leuna, Germany.
Liz Nissner | Reuters
Growing cannabis indoors requires a lot of energy, which obviously results in higher emissions.
But some companies are trying to cope with the situation, such as UK grower Glass Pharms. It claims to be the first company in the world to grow cannabis indoors in a carbon-neutral way. In fact, it says it will do a better job and produce it in a carbon-negative way – without having to buy the carbon credits that would normally offset emissions.
All electricity for the company’s greenhouse facilities in southern England comes from anaerobic digestion plants, which feed waste food that would normally be sent to landfill and release methane as it breaks down, chief executive James Duckenfield (James Duckenfield) explained to CNBC during a video call.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change uses carbon dioxide as the reference unit when measuring the global warming potential (GWP) of other greenhouse gases.In the case of methane, it is estimated 28 times the global warming potential CO2 emissions over 100 years.
Taking into account the equivalent measure of methane emissions, Glass Pharms’ process carbon footprint is negative, Duckenfield said.
Instead, the biogas produced by the anaerobic digestion plant is converted into electricity, which also produces waste heat. It is then used to heat and cool Glass Pharms’ greenhouses.
“When we get energy, we use it very efficiently,” Duckenfield said.
Additionally, he said air flows vertically through the plants rather than using horizontal fans common in greenhouses. This creates convection currents, which help move air around the greenhouse and disrupt any microclimate that could lead to mold, he explains.
The facility’s water supply is also collected from rainwater that falls on the roof, then treated and even recycled after use.
This means that Glass Pharms’ greenhouse facilities do not draw any power from the grid and do not rely on running water.
“Very energy consuming”
These efficiencies are particularly beneficial to businesses operating in this sector. Duckenfield emphasized that the greenhouse cannabis industry is typically “energy intensive” given the light and water and humidity controls required.
According to one report, an indoor cannabis farm with 500 plants operating year-round could consume 1.6 million to 2 million liters of water per year. analyze From the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction and Europol.
The analysis also noted that research shows that producing 1 kilogram of indoor herbal cannabis requires approximately 6,000 kilowatt-hours of energy and, in Europe, releases an estimated 1,374 kilograms of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. For context, the estimated carbon footprint of one indoor-grown herbal cannabis plant is equivalent to driving a plug-in hybrid car nearly 3 miles.
Britain ‘behind’
Duckenfield said his passion for environmental issues began long before he became CEO of Glass Pharms.
“I trained as a chemist and then ended up in technology, and I just love going back to things that are very close to my heart… I leverage my chemistry and I can now build a truly environmentally responsible business,” he said.
Glass Pharms was established in 2020, Obtained UK’s first commercial license The following year, high-THC cannabis flower is supplied to legal pharmaceutical companies by the Ministry of the Interior. The company completed construction of its greenhouse growing facilities in 2023 and completed 14 harvests last year.
The medical uses of cannabis are Legalization in the UK in 2018. This gives specialist doctors the option to prescribe unlicensed cannabis medicines.
this most Cannabis products for medical purposes (CBPM) are unlicensed in the UK, meaning they have not been assessed for safety and effectiveness by the country’s regulator, nor have they been authorized for marketing.
2019 Report Experts from the Health and Social Care Committee stressed that there were still gaps in research into medicinal cannabis, partly because it was more difficult to conduct “the robust clinical trials needed to test efficacy and safety” before restrictions were changed in 2018. “
In fact, the NHS reported that publication In 2023, many physicians and their professional bodies remain “concerned about the limited evidence for the long-term safety and effectiveness of these products, which are largely unlicensed.”
It added that “further evidence of benefits and harms is needed before prescriptions can be used more widely.”
data Figures released by the NHS Commercial Services Authority in January 2023 showed that 89,239 unlicensed cannabis medicines were privately prescribed in the UK between November 2018 and July 2022. In comparison, fewer than five of these unlicensed medicines are prescribed through the NHS.
yugev poll A 2022 study commissioned by medical cannabis clinic Sapphire Medical Clinics (now Curaleaf Clinic) estimated that around 1.8 million people in the UK use illicit cannabis products to self-medicate to relieve symptoms associated with chronic physical and mental health conditions.
Duckenfield said the UK was “behind” other countries in treating cannabis as a more mainstream drug.
He said that although the leader in the field, GW Pharmaceuticals, is from the United Kingdom, Jazz Pharmaceuticals acquired GW Pharmaceuticals for $7.2 billion in 2021.
“As a country, we should be nurturing the medical cannabis industry and encouraging its growth, and that requires really strong government support,” Duckenfield said.
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