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Something To Consider
By Hempology | May 10, 2007
Editors Note :The following post is an email sent to us at Hemology101.Unfortunately the writer declined to identify themselves..A provocative and well thought out letter.
Let’s suppose a small operation, something that would supply weed for a few
people, nothing commercial, just for the grower and a few friends here and
there.
Let’s suppose 3 harvests per year, 4 months per harvest (2 months growth, 2
months flowering), 2000 watts @ 18 hours per day during growth + 3000 watts
@ 12 hours per day during flowering, which means 1080 kWh per month or 12960
kWh per year.
According to Wikipedia, the average world consumption of electricity per
capita per year is 2215 kWh per year per person. According to the same
source, the average Canadian consumption of electricity per capita is 16047
kWh per year. This means that 3 harvests per year is equivalent to the
electricity consumption of about 5.85 citizens of the world, or 3/4 of a
Canadian citizen.
One liter of gasoline delivers approximately 35 mega joules. 35 mega joules
is the equivalent of 9.72 kilowatts per hour. A Hummer H1 consumes
approximately 1 liter for 4.3 kms. A Hummer H1 therefore consumes the
equivalent of 9.72 kWh/4.3kms = 2.26 kWh per km
12960 kWh / 2.26 kWh = 5734. So, growing pot for one year at the rate
mentioned above is equivalent to driving 5734 kms in a Hummer H1. It is
also the equivalent of consuming as much electricity as 5.85 average
citizens of the world. Is this environmentally friendly?
We all know that all things are related. What one does on this side of the
world has impacts on the other side of the world. If I buy ONE shirt in a
certain clothing store, I may be responsible for a child working in a
sweatshop in Indonesia. If I buy ONE hamburger, I may be responsible for
the rain forest being cleared to make pasture for cows in Brazil.
In that case, if I buy ONE gram of indoor weed, I may be responsible for a
new hydro electrical project that would ruin an ecosystem. It may come as a
surprise to some people, but electricity does NOT come from a wall. It has
to be generated.
A dam can only generate a finite quantity of electricity. If there is more
demand than what the dam can generate, we need a new dam. If we can’t build
a dam, we may need to build a power plant that runs on fossil fuels or a
nuclear power plant. That is how the consumption of electricity is linked
to the production of greenhouse gases and global warming.
Indoor growing requires a LOT of electricity. It is far from being
environmentally friendly. What is more important? The desire to get high
or the world around us?
There are indeed other activities that require more power than growing weed,
but that does not make growing weed indoors more environmentally friendly.
Every little thing counts. Everything we do has an impact and each small
step helps reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
So, what am I advocating here? The end of indoor growing? Not necessarily.
All I’m saying is, if you smoke indoor weed, stop pretending you are a
friend of the environment. Stop pointing the finger and look at yourself.
The moral of this story is: go green, go outdoors.
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