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Greenfern director Dan Casey says electricity has been 60 per cent of the medicinal cannabis operation’s costs, so the power station will bring considerable savings (file photo).
South Taranaki-based Greenfern Industries has become New Zealand’s first carbon-zero certified medicinal cannabis company.
The Taranaki-based company recently received the news from environmental certification provider Toitū Envirocare, after an audit of all activities relating to Greenfern that have a carbon footprint and the ways in which the company reduces its footprint.
“We’re incredibly proud of this certification as it speaks to our core value – to be New Zealand’s most environmentally friendly medicinal cannabis company,” managing director Dan Casey said.
In a statement, he said the medicinal cannabis industry had quite a large environmental and carbon footprint due to high energy inputs.
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A large focus over the past few months for Greenfern has been the work they’ve done on the hydroelectric power station they own on the Waingongoro River in Taranaki.
Last month it was given the go-ahead by the Taranaki Regional Council to start generating power again.
The power station sits alongside Greenfern’s research facility, indoor growing operation and processing facility.
“The highest overhead cost in a medicinal cannabis indoor growing operation is power,” Casey said.
“While having access to cost-price power is a game changer for us in terms of how competitive it will make the price of our products, being able to grow our plants in a more environmentally friendly way is just as important to us.”
