If we want to save the environment, don’t legalise cannabis

The electricity consumed by growing pot in Ontario is forecast to grow by 1,000 per cent over five years
The Star 24 November 2019
Family First Comment: “the energy munched by the fledgling cannabis-growing business is expected to rise by 1,250 per cent in Ontario over the next five years..”
And of course, all the other factors harmful to the environment – energy, water, pesticides, harm to the landscape
Read more: saynopetodope.org.nz/not-so-green/

The pot industry will not be a mellow new player on the province’s power grid.

Indeed, the energy munched by the fledgling cannabis-growing business is expected to rise by 1,250 per cent in Ontario over the next five years, according to a recent study by the province’s Independent Electricity System Operator.

“We’re seeing absolutely a significant increase in electricity demand because of the greenhouse growth in Ontario,” says Terry Young, vice-president of policy, engagement and innovation at the IESO.

“If you forecast out five years, what we’re seeing is over a thousand per cent growth in electricity to a sector,” says Young, whose Crown corporation released a study on electrical use by cannabis growers in October.

At a projected 1.258 terawatt-hour (TWh) consumption by 2024, pot producers will suck up far more energy than the 0.8 TWh the province’s auto sector used in 2018.

Last year, cannabis production in Ontario — which has the country’s largest capacity — consumed just 0.09 TWh. (Recreational cannabis was legalized in Canada on Oct. 17, 2018.)

But in the Leamington area alone,  Young says cannabis and other greenhouse production will increase overall electricity demand by 200 per cent by 2026 — a surge that would require a new transmission line be built.

Total electricity usage in the province is 140 TWh a year, with the mining industry, at 5.06 TWh usage, being by far the largest consumer.
READ MORE: https://www.thestar.com/business/2019/11/24/ontario-cannabis-industrys-electricity-use-forecast-to-grow-by-1000-per-cent-over-five-years.html