An overview of the Ardoa Organics carbon neutral cannabis cultivation project in Alicante, 2019.
Our plan: Carbon neutral organic hemp cultivation
In 2019, Ardoa Organics dedicated 15 hectares of farmland in Alicante to the cultivation of hemp. The purpose of this project was threefold: Firstly, provenance is key to Ardoa Organics, meaning we wanted to produce our own ingredients wherever possible. Secondly, we wanted to learn about the water consumption of hemp in the ideal growing climate found in Alicante. Thirdly, we wanted to grow enough hemp to meet our 2019 carbon emissions target, which is part of our objective to be carbon negative by 2022.
We grew a strain called Futura75, because of its love of intense sun and its CBD / Terpene profile. We grew completely organically, and installed a watering system that allowed us to deliver water directly to the base of the plants. We did this to conserve the maximum amount of water possible, since our farm is based in the ‘Green Triangle of Europe’, which boasts the highest number of sunshine days for the continent and temperatures that can exceed 40ºC. Water is a valuable resource that must be used sparingly, and it’s a skill to use just the right amount to achieve machine growth and Terpene production.
Our vision: From carbon neutral to carbon negative
We harvested by hand to avoid contamination by heavy machinery and hung-dried our plants to conserve the maximum amount of Terpenes possible. Terpenes are what gives cannabis and hemp their smell, so for a product like hemp tea this is extremely valuable. We then separated the seeds from the plant material and placed the hemp biomass into our cold storage facilities, whilst our hemp tea went into product development.
Based on standard models of the carbon capture potential of hemp, we estimate that we were able to capture around 250 tonnes of carbon. However, this is only the first step in our journey to becoming carbon negative. Capturing carbon through hemp requires many processes after the cultivation stage, and there is a difference between just capturing carbon temporarily in biomass and actually sequestering it, to take that carbon out of the atmosphere.
We will be exploring this topic further in an upcoming post: ‘Ardoa Organics – Carbon Negative by 2022’.
GEORGE WILKINS
Author
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We place huge value in product and ingredients testing, but the information contained within a test is only as reliable as the test itself. In order for us to have full confidence in our products it is required that we work with providers that can offer quality testing to fit with our goals.
Find out more about our testing protocol, our testing partners, the tests they conduct on our behalf and why you can have complete confidence in Ardoa Organics products: CBD product testing explained – Why Ardoa Organics’ testing protocol is the key to confidence in CBD products
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