MARCH 8, 2021

https://phys.org/news/2021-03-insatiable-demand-cannabis-giant-carbon.html

by Colorado State University

It’s no secret that the United States’ $13 billion cannabis industry is big business. Less obvious to many is the environmental toll this booming business is taking, in the form of greenhouse gas emissions from commercial, mostly indoor production.https://36c7bdb571aa01a80f815b11f82ad0e1.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html

A new study by Colorado State University researchers provides the most detailed accounting to date of the industry’scarbon footprint, a sum around which there is only limited understanding. What is clear, though, is that consumer demand for cannabis is insatiable and shows no signs of stopping as more states sign on to legalization.

The study, published inNature Sustainability,was led by graduate student Hailey Summers, whose advisor, Jason Quinn, is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Summers, Quinn…