Potential EE & DR Opportunities in Indoor Agriculture Facilities
Amy Ellsworth
Rocky Mountain Utility Efficiency Exchange ConferenceSeptember 30 – October 2, 2015
Potential EE & DR OpportunitiesIn Cannabis Cultivation Facilities (Indoor Ag)
• Colorado Market
• Electricity Use
• Utility/Grower Pain Points
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• EE & DR Opportunities
• Technologies to watch
• Trends
• Research Needed
Colorado Market Snapshot
833 Retail and 1,416 Medical Establishments
148,238 lbs. medical and retail marijuana sold
4.81 million units edible products sold
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Source: CO Dept. of Revenue Marijuana Enforcement Division Annual Update, Feb. 2015.
Between 300,000 and
320,000 plants on average being
cultivated throughout 2014
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Colorado Market
Impact per Pound
Produced Facility Type
Colorado Regulated
Market
74 Tons Indoor2000
kWh/lb
Greenhouse 100 kWh/lb
Outdoor ~Minimal
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Source: Market size based on CO Dept. of Revenue Marijuana Enforcement Division Annual Update, Feb. 2015.
Electricity Use for Indoor Facility
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Indoor cannabis
production requires
~2,000 kWh per pound
Source: Impact of Cannabis Production in the Pacific Northwest on Regional Electricity Loads, Northwest Power Planning Council, Sept 3rd 2014
5%
38%
21%1%
2%
3%
30%
Space heating
Lighting
AC
Drying
CO2 Injection
Water handling
Venting/dehumidification
Put it another way
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Between 300,000 and 320,000 plants on average cultivated in Colorado
At 4.7 cycles per year
Powers 13,000 CO Homes
15,900 Lamps300,000 Plants
IN 2014 GROW LAMPS HOMES
2.5 plants per lamp
1,000 watts per lamp (flowering phase)
12 hours per lamp per day
Roughly 111,000,000 kWh
An average home is CO uses 8,544 kWh (EIA 2013)
Putting it into Perspective
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U.S. Electricity for Cannabis production is equivalent to
that of
2 MILLIONaverage U.S.
homes
Indoor Ag Energy Use Particulars and Perversions
• Exclusion of daylight
• Excessive cooling
• Heat and moisture removal problems
• Odor and noise suppression
• Processing plants into other products
• CO2 production by burning fossil fuel indoors
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The only sector to have been passed over by four decades of energy efficiency policy, incentives, and education
Utility Pain Points
• Energy Consumption
• Sudden increases in localized demand
• Illegal at the Federal level
• Customer instability
• Pressure from cities
• Clean Power Plan
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Growers’ Pain Points
• Energy cost
• Highly competitive, thin margins
• Stigmatized and over-regulated
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• EE programs, energy service
• Cash flow & financing
• Rapidly changing industry
2015 2025 2035 2045
$0.06
$0.08
$0.10
$0.12
$0.14
2005$0
$1,250$2,500$3,750$5,000$6,250
2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Energy Efficiency Opportunities
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Cost-effective efficiency
improvements of more than 75% are conceivable- Evan Mills, Ph.D.
Its all about spectrum and brightness
• Plants respond to the photo-synthetically active spectrum (PAR) - the ag community counts this as “photons” of light
• Cost metric is based on the light seen by plants each second, summed over a 24-hour period known as “Daily Light Integral” (DLI).
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MetalHalide InductionLEDsPlasmaSunlight High-Press
Sodium
And then there’s the cost…
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$0.53 $0.71$0.45
$2.01$2.31
$2.93
$4.83 $4.84
$2.58$1.79
$2.61$2.19
$2.49 $2.44
$3.68$3.16
$0
$1
$2
$3
$4
$5
$6
Upfront
Annual
Co
st O
f Li
ght
($/D
LI/s
qft
.)
EE Potential in Colorado(back of the envelope)
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Facility Type kWh/lb Estimated % of Facilities
Total Regulated lbs Produced Annually
Base kWh Impact Annually
Technical Potential kWh Savings Annual (30% of Base)
Market Potential Savings kWh (25% of Tech)
Indoor 2,000 90% 133,414 266,828,400 80,048,520 20,012,130
Greenhouse 100 9% 13,341 1,334,142 Assume zero -
Outdoor Minimal 1% 1,482 - Assume zero -
Total 100% 148,238 268,162,542 80,048,520 20,012,130
Market potential is equal to powering 2,300 Colorado homes a year.
DR Opportunities
• Significant potential for load factor improvement• Vegetative: Lighting - 18 hours on / 6 hours off
• Flowering: Lighting - 12 hours on / 12 hours off
• End uses can be managed with controls systems to minimize peak load: lighting; HVAC; ventilation; dehumidification; etc.
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Technologies to watch:
Farm in a box
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daylight harvesting technology
Technologies to watch: Suncast
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and delivers it under the
canopy
channels sunlight through
fiber optics
Technologies to watch: Surna Reflector and Dehumidifier
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Cultivation facilities are getting larger
Legalization is on the 2016 ballot in 12 states; Medical in 5 states
New Colorado Policies
Interstate commerce will change everything –
Edible and pharmaceutical products
Trends and Implications Going Forward
• Moving away from requiring owners to operate retail store AND be a producer.
• Likely to restrict outdoor producers
More information is needed…
Comprehensive technical and market research to support
– Baseline energy profile
– EE and DR: analysis of potential, savings, cost effectiveness,
– Market Factors: barriers, opportunities and acceptance
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Can inform program design recommendations for
utility indoor agriculture program(s)
Amy EllsworthPrincipal, Energy Services
Office (303) 389-2510
LinkedIn.com/company/the-Cadmus-group
@CadmusGroup
Facebook.com/CadmusGroup