UK Firm Planning World’s First Carbon-Negative Cannabis Cultivation Facility

United Kingdom-based cannabis firm Glass Pharms has announced plans to build the world’s first carbon-negative medical cannabis cultivation facility, the Edmonton Journal reports. The company made the deal with an unnamed infrastructure firm and will have access to 22.5 million Great Britain pounds ($38.5 million) to construct the new campus.

The greenhouse will be 2.5 hectares in size and is planned for an undisclosed location in the South of England. In a statement, Glass Pharms indicated that the project is the first facility that will be “carbon negative by design.”

To accomplish its carbon-negative goal, the company plans to use an anaerobic digestion plant (food waste plant) to produce electricity using steam. Artificial intelligence-influenced growing methods will help Glass Pharms reach the “fine tolerances required by the pharmaceutical sector for medical cannabis flower.”

“It also means that we don’t have to rely on carbon credits to claim we are carbon negative… our business model is intrinsically built that way using the best practices of circular economic design.” — Glass Pharms website

Glass Pharms was the first company to receive a license in the U.K. to supply high-THC cannabis to medical cannabis patients. However, much of the medical cannabis in the U.K. is imported with the inconsistency of quality and supply, Glass Pharms CEO James Duckenfield said in the statement. Many patients have complained about the lack of consistency in the medical cannabis found in the U.K.

“We will underpin a secure supply chain of medical cannabis to U.K., whilst at the same time making a real contribution towards the U.K.’s Net Zero targets,” Duckenfield said.