Indoor cannabis cultivation facilities in Massachusetts are consuming about 10% of all industrial electricity consumption in the state, according to an estimate from the Northeast Sustainable Cannabis Project.
The estimate is based on current indoor cultivation lighting standards and the assumption that half of the growing canopy square footage authorized for use is currently in use. Massachusetts' Cannabis Control Commission has authorized more than 1.1 million sq. ft. of indoor cannabis cultivation - compared to 285,000 sq. ft. of outdoor cultivation - according to the commission's licensing data.
"Since the cannabis sector could triple in size by the time supply and demand level out, the impact is likely to be quite a bit larger," said Sanford Lewis, general counsel for NSCP. "So this means that just as other industries are working hard to curtail their climate impact, energy-intensive indoor cannabis has come along to undermine the Massachusetts goal of reducing greenhouse gasses emitted."
Editors' Note: Information for this article was originally published in Worcester Business Journal. The full story can be read here.
