"Why use the forests which were centuries in the making and the mines which required ages to lay down, if we can get the equivalent of forest and mineral products in the annual growth of the fields?" --Henry Ford
Henry Ford grew hemp for many things, the first model T ran on ethanol from hemp. Every car 95 and newer can be converted to run ethanol, as well gasoline, and 100% healthier than fossil fuels.
HEMP (CANNABIS CURE) Medical documented since 1900s.
Complete guide to cannabis as core cure for treatment.
Cannabis heal/cures the following: (along with plant based methodology)
-ADD
-Autism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2DHXzuFGLo
-PTSD
-Anixety
-Depression
-Guccalome
-AIDs
-Hepatitis C, and more...
-Premenstrual Syndrome
-Alzheimer’s
-Tourette’s and OCD
-Multiple Sclerosis
-Glaucoma
-Migraines
-Seizures
For most of human existence, hemp has provided food, fuel, clothing and shelter for people all over the world. During the 20th and 21st centuries, however, it has become, according to many governments (primarily under coercion by the US government), a threat so horrible that it should be wiped from the face of the earth.
We know of no species (other than some deadly microbes) that has been afforded the notability of an international effort to exterminate it globally.
Consider that there is NO EVIDENCE to support any of the government's allegations about the harmful effects of hemp that is not true of potatoes, strawberries, cotton swabs or blue jeans. Each of these (and many other common consumer items) creates more damage than hemp (or "marijuana").
While you consider that, consider also that the species in question is the single living organism that holds the greatest promise for renewable/sustainable food, fuel, clothing and shelter accessible to the widest possible range of people.
Hemp is the most versatile and adaptable crop plant on earth. It also provokes the most amazing politics. Why are politicians opposed to such a marvelous and valuable resource?
Hemphasis.net explores the politics while attempting to quickly and clearly parse the massive amount of information available on the various uses for hemp.
Hemp researchers might want to go directly to the site directory, which contains a convenient overview of all site content.
Every topic we discuss on this site is covered--often much more thoroughly--already on other websites, as well as in published literature. Hemphasis.net provides lots and lots of links to authoritative websites and literature. We recommend that you bookmark this site to aid in navigation back here when you've followed a link to another site.
....... Michael's House supports our work. Hemphasis is a member Hemp Industries Assn.
Other websites that have additional info and/or hemp products Monterey Bay Spice Co. HempUSA Ron Paul Hemp
Why industrial hemp?
Hemp seed ready for planting in 1999, Alberta, Canada
Food
Hemp is an excellent food source. It provides nearly complete nutrition. Hemp seed is a complete source of essential amino acids (EAAs). Hemp provides significantly more of all 8 EFAs than its closest competitors (meat, eggs, tofu), while providing the types and amounts of amino acids the body needs to make serum albumin and serum globulins, two other amino acids essential to life. Hemp protein contains all 20 known amino acids.
Hemp seed has over 30% protein. 65% of the proteins in hemp foods are in the form of globulin edistin (the word edistin comes from the Greek word “edestos,” which means edible). Edistin is considered by many to be the most easily digestible protein. The other 35% of the protein in hemp is Albumin, another of the most easily digestible proteins. Soy commonly has more protein than hemp, at 35%, but soy protein contains tripsid inhibitors that block proteins absorption, and oligosaccharides, which cause upset stomach and gas. Hemp protein is the most easily digested protein, and has all 10 EAAs, making it the best source for protein on the planet.
Hemp seed is also a complete source of essential fatty acids (EFAs), with optimal amounts and proportions of Omega-6, Omega-3, and GLA. Hemp seed (30-35% oil) is the highest in total EFAs, at 80-81% of total oil volume, of any food source.
EFAs, by definition, are essential and must be obtained through diet, because the body can’t produce them. EFAs help regulate brain function, the immune system, the endocrine system, aid in digestion, circulation, and practically regulate all systems in the human body. EFAs turn themselves into whatever the body needs to regulate itself chemically. Many American’s are deficient in EFA. A diet rich in hemp seed would greatly help humans to maintain health and happiness.
The fact is that hemp is the only food source with all 10 EAAs and all 4 EFAs.
Hemp seed oil can be used as cooking oil, to be added to hot pastas or mixed with salad dressings. Hemp seed "nut" (that which remains after the removal of the seed shell), may be added to many foods or incorporated in baking, and can withstand temperatures up to 300 degrees without hardening.
Pressed seed cake, or hemp meal (what remains after the oil has been pressed out), can be made into a cooking powder or flour. Hemp meal is also an ideal feed for animals. Recent experiments in Kentucky reveal that hemp-fed cattle require less feed and digest it more efficiently. Hemp seeds are also the preferred seed among birds. It is said to improve the frequency and mood of canary song.
Hemp nut is the most nutritious and easily digestible food on the planet, the only complete source of all the following: protein, essential amino acids and essential fatty acids. Hemp is the only food which supplies all man's dietary needs in one source -- the only food which can sustain human life without any other source of nutrition.
Hemp foods contain 35% carbohydrates, 30% fat, 35% fiber, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, C, D, and in particular vitamin E, and only 8% saturated fat, or less.
Complete Protein
Hemp contains 25% - 31 % protein, second only to soy (35%), but the protein in hemp foods is more easily digestible, because hemp contains globular proteins, albumin 33% and 65% edistin (a Greek word meaning edible), which have structures very similar to proteins made by the blood, which makes them readily digestible. A handful of hemp seed provides the minimum daily requirement of protein for adults. No other food source provides complete protein in such an easily digestible form, not even soy. Soy protein content is fairly difficult to digest.
Hemp foods contain all eight essential amino acids, Leucine, Lysine, Threoine, Phen+tyro, Valine, Meeth+cyst, Isoleucin, Tryptophan, with higher amounts of each than other main sources of protein, like egg whites, tofu, human milk, and whole cow's milk. Besides these 8 essential amino acids, hemp foods also provides the necessary types and amounts of amino acids the body needs to make serum albumin and serum globulins, two other amino acids essential to life. All of this makes hemp a complete source of protein.
Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)
EFAs are essential to tissue growth and help regulate many internal functions, which makes consuming them critical. Essential fatty acids are by definition, essential, because they can't be produced by the body, but must be obtained through diet, for proper growth and body functioning.
Hemp has Highest EFA Content
Hemp food (30-35% oil) is the highest in total essential fatty acids, at 80-81% of total oil volume, of any plant and provide the perfect ratio of Omega-6 (around 60%) to Omega-3 (20 %), a 3 to 1 ratio; the ratio recommended by health experts. Hemp nut is the only food item containing every EFA -- including rare stearidonic acid (SDA), and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), or super Omega-6, which is absent in flax and other major oils. GLA helps treat neurodermatitis, arthritis, and PMS, and together SDA and GLA reduce symptoms of atopic dermatitis and other skin diseases.
EFAs help organ muscles to contract, regulate stomach acid, help lower blood pressure, help maintain body temperature, regulate hormone levels, and break up cholesterol, while aiding in fat transportation and metabolism. The EFAs in hemp also help improve brain function.
EFAs support the immune system and guard against viral infection. Thus, they help cancer, HIV, and other patients whose immune systems are weakened. By reinforcing the immune system, hemp foods help aid in making a person healthy. Health experts have concluded that a diet rich in EFAs is one way to ensure that a person becomes and remains healthy.
Here are the conditions which may be helped by EFAs: addiction, arthritis, attention deficit disorder, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, constipation, diabetes, diarrhea, earache, edema, fatigue, immune deficiency, menopuase, MS, obesity, osteroporosis, premenstrual syndrome, tuberculosis, athersclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and skin conditions such as eczema, neurodermititis, and psoriasis.
EFAs also aid in cardiovascular health, which most Americans could improve upon, help stop sudden cardiac death, help improve mood in bippolar cases, and EFAs also help the reproductive system and should be consumed regularly by all pregnant women, because EFAs are vital to infant development.
Conclusions
Hemp's nutrients are the most important things we can get in our diets, and we Americans are not getting enough. As of now, 90% of Americans do not get enough EFAs into their diet. This is critical because a deficiency in EFAs will result in changes in cell structure (cancer), brittle and dull hair and nails, plus dandruff, allergies and possibly dermatitis.
Hemp foods could help reverse Americans' negative eating habits and make us healthier. Hemp could help us maintain our cholesterol levels while we continue to eat large amounts of animal products. We need EFAs to break down the cholesterol we ingest, so we don't get strokes and heart attacks.
Since hemp is the only food source with all the essential fatty acids, and contains them in perfect proportions (3 to 1, O-6 to O-3), contain all the essential amino acids, and all the protein needed to continue life, it seems silly to ban them. Why ban the most nutritious food source on earth? Seems kind of like a miracle that one food source could contain everything a person needs and in the perfect ratios.
Body Care
Because of hemp oil's high EFA content, especially GLA, helps skin cells to communicate to rebuild cell membranes, which keeps the skin from getting dry. Hemp oil is an excellent natural emollient and moisturizer (lotions and cosmetics), because of its Essential Fatty Acid (EFA) content. EFAs do not clog up pores like saturated fats do. EFAs can be absorbed into the cells, which enables skin cells to comunicate, and repair skin cell membranes resulting in softer, smoother, and more moisturized skin.
Most moisturizing products on the market are made from saturated oils, which are not absorbed by the skin cells, but only coat the surface, but do nothing to prevent further moisture loss.
Skin care products with hemp oil help restore dry and damaged skin, increase the natural moisture retention capacity, while slowing down skin aging. Hemp skin care products are excellent for broken or damaged skin, and are useful for sufferers of eczema, psoriasis, and mastalgia (breast pain).
EFAs also allow hemp hair care products to bring gloss and manageability by relieving dry scalp or hair loss and damage brought on by blow dryers, chemical perms, coloring and sunlight with moisturization. Hemp seed oil provides the proper balance of essential nutrients needed for strong healthy hair. Hair is often damaged and stripped of its natural lipid coating, which makes hair brittle and lack luster. Hemp seed oil helps revitalize the hair shaft, increase volume, elasticity, softness and shine, because its EFAs deeply penetrate your mane.
Fiber
Hemp is among the longest, strongest, most elastic, and most durable fibers in nature. As far as natural fibers go, it yields some of the strongest and most durable fabric, cloth, canvas, cordage, and textiles. It is highly resistant to mildew, rotting, and is very anti-microbial.
Compared to cotton, hemp textiles are stronger, more durable, use one third the amount of water, and require no crop chemicals. Cotton uses 25-30% of the worlds toxic crop chemicals.
Why Hemp Fabrics?
Historical Review
The physical advantages of hemp fiber are its length, strength, durability, elasticity, and ability to withstand high temperatures without degeneration.
Hemp rope has long been praised for its ability to withstand rot, mildew, and insects. It is strong and very elastic and keeps its strength and gets softer as it ages. 70%-90% of all rope, twine, and cordage were made from hemp until 1937 for this very reason.
Hemp canvas is resistant to ultraviolet light damage, heat and mildew, and repels insects. The word "canvas" actually derives from the word "cannabis".
Hemp's long bast fiber can be spun into threads, yarn for rope, twine, cordage, heavy canvas, or knit, or woven into a variety of fine linen-like quality fabrics.
Evidence
Mildew: Hemp's historical dominance of the shipping industry (sails, rope, rigging) because it was mildew-, rot-, and light-resistant is evidence enough.
Elasticity: Historical and modern research indicates that hemp is very elastic, but not as elastic as flax. No specific studies were found.
UV (UltraViolet): Tilley has come out with a new hemp hat. The Tilley hemp fabric has been certified with a UPF 50+, the maximum UV protection rating given. (www.tilley.com)
Durability & Strength: Barbara Filippone of EnviroTextiles commissioned all the following tests. These results are for specific fabrics. Fabric strength and durability are not only a result of the fiber, but also of the success of the weave.
Wyzenbeck ASTMD 4157 -- Abrasion study on 12 100% Hemp Fabrics from China. Results: Fabrics passed for residential use (furniture). Some passed for contract industry standards.
ASTM D 3886D -- Abrasion resistance. Results: Hemp fabrics had a high abrasion resistance in residential use.
ASTM D 1424D -- Tear Resistance. Results: Hemp fabrics have an excellent tear resistance.
ASTM 5035D -- Strength Test. Results: The 100% hemp fabrics tested had a high strength.
Fireproof Properties: CAFB 117 Section E-D California Fire Standard for 100% Chinese and European Hemp Fabrics. Results: All Fabrics met the fire standard.
Antimicrobial Properties (This is important in fabric assessment, but it also ranges into hair and skin care, as well as in treatment of and prevention of health problems): Hemp is resistant to the growth of Aspergillus Niger.
Matt Bergh, in partial fulfillment for B.S. at California Polytechnic State University (San Luis Obispo), in conjunction with professor Dr. Christopher Kitts. "Comparative Study of the Resistance to Aspergillus Niger by Hemp, Cotton, and Flax," June 2003.
"Cannabidiol (CBC), one of the four major cannabinoids in Cannabis sativa L., was discovered to possess strong anti-inflammatory, and anti-bacterial qualities and mild to moderate anti-fungal properties."
Turner CE, Elsohly MA. "Biological activity of cannabichromene, its hemologs and isomers," Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, Aug-Sep 1981. Issue 21. p. 283S-291S.
How Does Hemp Stand Up
Now that we know that hemp textiles are industry tested for strength, durability, UV protection, mildew and rot resistance, fire resistance, elasticity, and we know that hemp can be grown without herbicides and pesticides nor fungicides or fertilizer (if crop rotation is utilized to optimize the nitrogen in the soil), we need to see how hemp stands up to its competition.
The information we've found on hemp vs. other textiles is varied. Further research needs to be done comparing hemp to other fabrics. However all sources we've come across tell us that cotton uses about 50% of the world's toxic crop chemicals, and that hemp is stronger, lasts longer, is more absorbent, is warmer, breathes better, is more microbially-resistant, and that hemp requires only a third as much water as cotton to grow and only a tiny fraction of the fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide that cotton does.
Cotton kills. Hemp regenerates.
Building Materials
Hemp can make most building materials, including caulking, cement, fiberboard, flooring, insulation, paneling, particleboard, plaster, plywood, stucco, mortar, and biodegradable plastic.
Hemp can also be formed into cement-/concrete-like walls. This material is called hempcrete. Hempcrete is a building material that is formed by combining air-lime based binders with the chopped core of the hemp plant stem. It can be pored into a form almost identical to pouring concrete, or spray applied. Hempcrete homes are lightweight, fire-, water-, earthquake-, and rodent-resistant, have excellent thermal mass and insulation characteristics that allows the homes to breath, which saves money on heating and cooling costs, has high sound insulation, and good flexibility.
This building technique also sequesters a lot of carbon, reversing the damaging effects of greenhouse gases, providing one the best value materials for low impact, sustainable and commercially viable construction. The Roman aqueducts were most likely built this way, as were still active bridges in France dating to the sixth century. Homes such as these are being built in Europe today, and a new Chicago company called American Lime Technology is ready to use this technique here in the U.S.
Rebuilding in a developing world
by Scott Blossom
The ecosystem is beginning to show many signs that the Earth is continually seeking to balance the many forces that are acting upon it. We can no longer deny the fact that our continual drive for economic growth has a drastic effect on the natural capital that our traditional economy is based upon. Many great leaders of this country such as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington have sighted the importance of local agriculture and independence from foreign resources.
Unfortunately, as we continue to put pressure on the Earth to supply us with non-renewable materials, massive amounts of energy are released in ways that can detrimental the human existence. Although many of these changes may seem to be on a scale that is much too large for us to control, we are beginning to see the increasing role that humans have in a fragile, yet powerful ecosystem.
In recent years, we've seen dramatic weather changes, along with increased risk of storm, flood and fire. Natural disasters, such as those that are represented by what we have seen recently on the East Coast in the form of Hurricane Isabelle, and on the West Coast in the form of large forest fires, present a realistic view of the natural changes that are currently happening are currently influencing our ecosystem.
In addition, we are seeing human induced occurrences influencing the ecosystem as well. Many of our water resources are exhibiting decreasing water quality, and increased flood activity due to our creation of impervious surfaces and runoff laden with toxic materials. As a result of this, we are seeing much of our soil, our valuable and usable land, being polluted washed away with increased amounts of erosion, and our agricultural fields being filled with sedimentation.
When our children can no longer safely sunbathe, or swim in rivers, there is evidence that the once-finely tuned relationship between humankind and nature is out of balance.
Although many natural disasters are beyond human intervention, we do have a direct influence on the environment with our methods of re-building after their occurrence. Development can actually repair environmental destruction with intelligent bioengineering and advanced ecological agriculture. Most importantly, we can heed the advice of our forefathers, while taking advantage of current technology, and begin to make intelligent planning and engineering decisions as we continue to develop and grow into a society that can be can be economically and environmentally stable.
In this developing world we must actively design communities that allow us to work with the environment, while utilizing the production of our building materials as an actual method of remediation and retrofitting of our current situation. By doing so, we can continue to grow at a rate that is sufficient to keep the economy strong, as well as allow our environment enough time to regenerate, even as we harvest agricultural resources that will replace synthetic materials. By using renewable materials that alleviate the need to extract those of which have taken years to form, we can release the many levels of pressure on the earth, before forces of nature release themselves. With this goal in mind, we are guided to design solutions that utilize renewable resources such as the industrial hemp plant.
In the development of a community plan we may explore how a renewable resource such as industrial hemp can be used in conjunction with innovative design to stabilize the economy, as it stabilizes the environment.
Site
One of the first aspects in developing a new community, or renovating an existing community is to select a site that is suitable for sustainable development, which in many cases, requires the treatment of areas that have been previously impacted.
The industrial hemp plant can be used in remediation of brownfields, as it has a higher nutrient uptake than any other agricultural crop. The industrial nature of this crop lends itself well to these types of applications as its products can be used for many industrial applications (as we will discuss later) other than consumption. In addition, the hemp plant can be an integral part of the reforestation projects that are necessary after a large forest fires, or a large clear cuts.
Industrial hemp is excellent sown in a fallow field, as well as in crop rotation; the roots loosen soil, and fallen leaves return beneficial organic matter to the soil. In many cases industrial hemp can be planted as a means to stabilize soil, thus lessening the amount of valuable land that is lost to erosion. In addition, the fibers from the hemp plant can be arranged in a fiber matrix that can be secured to eroding slopes as erosion control blanketing and matting, as well as into fiber logs that help in the prevention of shoreline erosion.
The actual growth of the plant itself can alleviate the need for the millions of pounds of toxic fertilizer that contaminates our watersheds. In all of these ways, the growth of industrial hemp can help in the restoration of our watersheds and streams, as it is grown for usable materials that will be later used in the community design.
Cutting edge methods of managing stormwater using low impact development techniques such as bioretention and vegetated filter strips as a means reducing peak runoff rates, improving water quality, and replenishing aquifers, lend a whole new potential for the incorporation of the industrial hemp plant into our landscape.
Building
Many traditional methods of buildings utilized local materials to construct buildings and sheds. By strengthening agricultural base we can return power back into the people who work American soil, thus decreasing the need for dependence on foreign resources. Industrial hemp holds the potential to strengthen growing communities on reservations and rural areas, as the fibers and hurd from the hemp plant can reinforce traditional adobe and fiber reinforced concrete mixtures. In addition, one acre of hemp produces as much cellulose fiber pulp as 4.1 acres of trees, resulting in an excellent material to be used in the composites industry.
Hemp resin can be used as an additive in the creation of biodegradable polymers that help to reduce the problems of waste disposal associated with toxic materials. Biodegradable polymers can potentially be combined with plant fibers to produce biodegradable Eco-Composite materials. The reinforcement of these polymers by means of vegetable fibers improves their mechanical properties and opens up new fields of application within the construction industry with the use of techniques such as film stacking, injection molding, and press consolidation.
A mixture of hemp fibers and hurds subjected to extreme heat and pressure can be molded into a completely biodegradable material that possesses excellent thermal and acoustic capabilities, as well as being fire-resistant and competitive in mechanical characteristics (tensile and compressive strength) with modern materials that are produced with a petrochemical base. Many of these qualities have been extensively tested with techniques such as electron microscopy an analysis of crystallographic changes that occur within the organic biopolymer that exists within the hempen matrix.
Research in the area of biological renewable materials has shown that the main building blocks of life &endash; carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and their derivatives &endash; could be substitute products from the modern non-renewable resources. (Almost everything made from a hydrocarbon can be produced from a renewable carbohydrate.) The advantage of using a renewable resource as the root of our building industry can be seen as we assess the life cycle of the material through its growth harvest and production, as well as in the examination of the gases that are released into the environment (or household) after construction.
Many modern materials produce harmful off-gas that silently infiltrates into our bodies during everyday activities. By using industrial hemp to manufacture non-toxic products, we can alleviate the release of many harmful chemicals into the atmosphere, as well as improve upon the overall health of the community. The cellulose from the hemp plant can be extruded into almost any product. By varying the heat, pressure, chemistry, and retention time with the extrusion process a range of fiber and cellular materials with multiple strength characteristics can be generated.
Products for the home industry that have been created using the industrial hemp plant include, but are not limited to: eco-composite paneling, fiberboard beams, roof shingles, carpets, biodegradable paints, curtains, and rugs.
Transportation and Energy
The biomass from the hemp plant can converted into many forms of energy that can be used throughout the household and the community. Biomass can be converted to methane, methanol, ethanol, or gasoline at a fraction of the current cost of oil, coal, or nuclear energy. As an energy crop, hemp can contribute to the biodiesel industry in applications such as heating homes, as well as a trillion dollar biofuel industry that can supply the fuel necessary to run automobiles or airplanes. Think of all the college students booking flights for a Cancun all inclusive, or the wealthy people vacationing in a Dominican Republic hotel. All of those gallons of jet-fuel could be replaced by hemp. These methods have been proven capable of competing with the non-renewable fossil fuel industry, as well as reversing the Greenhouse Effect through its growth and harvest that removes CO2 from the atmosphere. In addition being an excellent lubricant for industrial applications, hempseed oil can be used as lighting oil. As Abraham Lincoln demonstrated, it produces the brightest lamplight, and offers an alternative to costly energy bills.
Perhaps one of the most beneficial characteristics of this renewable resource is that the hemp plant can be used in its entirety, and that a streamlined life-cycle assessment yields positive impacts on the environment throughout the growth, harvest, and production stages. The industrial hemp plant offers a wide variety of high performance applications through the many aspects of community design, and will help strengthen our local economy, return power back to our local agricultural industry, and restore the environment as it grows.
Resources
Conrad, Chris. "Hemp; Lifeline to the Future" Creative Expressions Publications. Los Angeles, California 1994.
Berman, Allen. "Your Naturally Healthy Home: Stylish, Safe, Simple" Rodale.
Pejis, Ton. International Conference on EcoComposites" Queen Mary University, London.
Hemp Industries Association. Occidental, California
Hemp World/Hemp Pages. Forestville, California 2000
Cars
European plants are making auto panels from hemp based composites that are biodegradable, half the weight of, more durable, and safer than fiberglass counterparts. Most car companies are using 100% hemp car interior panels in all new models. Henry Ford made a hemp based car in the 1940’s that was more dent-resistant than steel. A sledgehammer blow could not even break the windows of these cars, which were made from hemp.
Fuel
Hemp seed oil can be used as fuel to drive cars, heat homes, and power industry. Hemp produces biomass, which can be converted into sulfur-free charcoal for electricity; plus ethanol, methanol and other sources of fuel. Burning biomass for energy, instead of fossil fuels, helps keep the carbon dioxide cycle in balance. Hemp can produces more biomass per acre than any plant practical for farming in the Midwest. One acre of hemp has the prospect of producing 10 tons of biomass in a growing season. Hemp energy could make the U.S. less dependent on foreign petroleum, and keep the environment healthy.
Biodiesel fuel from Hemp Seed Oil
Hemp seed oil can be used as is in bio-diesel engines. Methyl esters, or bio-diesel, can be made from any oil or fat including hemp seed oil. The reaction requires the oil, an alcohol (usually methanol), and a catalyst, which produces bio-diesel and small amount of glycerol or glycerin. When co-fired with 15% methanol, bio-diesel fuel produces energy less than 1/3 as pollution as petroleum diesel.
Energy and Fuel from Hemp Stalks through Pyrolysis
Pyrolysis is the technique of applying high heat to biomass, or organic plants and tree matter, with little or no air. Reduced emissions from coal-fired power plants and automobiles can be accomplished by converting biomass to fuel utilizing pyrolysis technology. The process can produce, from lingo-cellulosic material (like the stalks of hemp), charcoal, gasoline, ethanol, non-condensable gasses, acetic acid, acetone, methane, and methanol. Process adjustments can be done to favor charcoal, pyrolytic oil, gas, or methanol, with 95.5% fuel-to-feed ratios. Around 68% of the energy of the raw biomass will be contained in the charcoal and fuel oils -- renewable energy generated here at home, instead of overpaying for foreign petroleum.
Pyrolysis facilities can run 3 shifts a day, and since pyrolysis facilities need to be within 50 miles of the energy crop to be cost effective, many new local and rural jobs will be created, not to mention the employment opportunities in trucking and transportation.
Hemp vs. Fossil Fuels
Pyrolysis facilities can use the same technology used now to process fossil fuel oil and coal. Petroleum coal and oil conversion is more efficient in terms of fuel-to-feed ratio, but there are many advantages to conversion by pyrolysis.
1) Biomass has a heating value of 5000-8000 BTU/lb, with virtually no ash or sulfur emissions.
2) Ethanol, methanol, methane gas, and gasoline can be derived from biomass at a fraction of the cost of the current cost of oil, coal, or nuclear energy, especially when environmental costs are factored in. Each acre of hemp could yield about 1000 gallons of methanol.
3) When an energy crop is growing, it takes carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air, and releases an equal amount when it is burned, creating a balanced system, unlike petroleum fuels, which only release CO2. When an energy crop like hemp is grown on a massive scale, it will initially lower the CO2 in the air, and then stabilize it at a level lower than before the planting of the energy crop.
4) Use of biomass would end acid rain, end sulfer-based smog, and reverse the greenhouse effect.
Coal
Unlike petroleum reserves, America has enough coal to last 100-300 years, but burning it for electricity puts sulfur -- toxic to every membrane in which it comes in contact, especially the simplest life forms -- into the air, which leads to acid rain, which kills 50,000 Americans, and 5,000 - 10,000 Canadians, annually, and destroys the forests, river, and animals. Not only is electricity production a common use of coal, but it is also used in smelting furnaces across the world. In order to boil tungsten, a popular metal used in jewelry, a furnace must be heated up to 5700 degrees Celsius; that's approximately the same heat as the surface of the sun!
Charcoal can be created from biomass through pyrolysis (charcoaling), which has nearly the same heating value in BTU as coal, virtually without sulfur. Biomass can also be co-fired with coal to reduce emissions, an important consideration since not only is coal a common heating element, but on the flip side many Americans run air conditioners and quality ceiling fans off electricity from coal-fired powerplants. Replacing coal would be a fantastic use of hemp.
Ethanol and Methanol
Ethanol is a water-free, high-octane alcohol which can be used as fuel to drive cars. Under current conditions, use of ethanol-blended fuels such as E85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) can reduce net emissions of greenhouse gases by as much as 37.1%. Ethanol-powered vehicles do suffer in performance (barely), but ethanol is effective as a fuel additive because it helps engines burn cleaner.
Once pyrolysis facilities are up and running, converting biomass into charcoal for electrical power plants, it will be more feasible to build the complex gasifying systems to produce ethanol and/or methanol from the cubed biomass, or to make high-octane lead-free gasoline from the methanol using a catalytic process developed by Georgia Tech University in conjunction with Mobil Oil Corporation.
Ethanol is currently being used as a fuel additive, replacing toxic methyl tertiary ether (MTBE). Ethanol producers are currently providing only 1% of America's liquid fuel. Soon though, as new development processes are researched, and with the use of hemp, the plant worlds number one producer of biomass, the cost of this alternative fuel will give petroleum vigorous competition.
Hydrolysis: A process whereby cellulose is converted to fermentable glucose, which holds the greatest promise for production and feedstock, because it could produce 100 gallons/ton. Tim Castleman and the Fuel and Fiber Company are researching this technology. Their method extracts the high-value bast fiber as first step. Then the remaining core material (mostly hurd) is converted to alcohol (methanol, ethanol), and then to glucose. Hydrolysis could produce 300,000 to 600,000 tons of biomass per year per facility, if each facility could process input from 60,000 to 170,000 acres.
Gasification: A form of pyrolysis which converts biomass into synthetic gas, such as ethanol, and low grade fuel oil with an energy content of about 40% that of petroleum diesel. This process is good for community power-corporation and people seeking self-sufficient energy needs. A small modular bio-powered system is in place in the village of Alaminos in the Philippines, using gasification techniques for energy.
Anaerobic Digestion: A process of capturing methane from green waste material (biomass). This process is toxic, but well suited for distributed power generation when co-located with electrical generation equipment.
Boiler: Biomass can also be burned in a boiler, but this energy has a value of $30-50 ton, which makes it impractical due to the higher value of hemp fiber, unless used on a local small scale, and in remote rural applications.
Hemp Produces the Most Biomass of Any Plant on Earth.
Hemp is at least four times richer in biomass/cellulose potential than its nearest rivals: cornstalks, sugarcane, kenaf, trees, etc.
Hemp produces the most biomass of any crop, which is why it is the natural choice for an energy crop. Hemp converts the sun's energy into cellulose faster than any other plant, through photosynthesis. Hemp can produce 10 tons of biomass per acre every four months. Enough energy could be produced on 6% of the land in the U.S. to provide enough energy for our entire country (cars, heat homes, electricity, industry) -- and we use 25% of the world's energy.
To put which in perspective, right now we pay farmers not to grow on 6% (around 90 million acres) of the farming land, while another 500 million acres of marginal farmland lies fallow. This land could be used to grow hemp as an energy crop.
Conclusion
The most important aspect of industrial hemp farming, the most compelling thing hemp offers us, is fuel. Right now we are depleting our reserves of petroleum and buying it up from other countries. It would be nice if we could have a fuel source which was reusable and which we could grow right here, making us completely energy independent.
Petroleum fuel increases carbon monoxide in the atmosphere and contributes heavily to global warming and the greenhouse effect, which could lead to global catastrophe in the next 50 years if these trends continue. Do you want to find out if they are right, or do you want to grow the most cost effective and environmentally safe fuel source on the planet?
Using hemp as an energy and rotation crop would be a great step in the right direction.
Hemp Seed Oil
Hemp seed oil has historically been used as lamp oil. It is said to shine the brightest of all lamp oils. Hemp seed oil lit the lamps of Abraham Lincoln, Abraham the prophet, and was used in the legendary lamps of Aladdin.
Anything which can be made from fossil fuels can be made from an organic substance like hemp. Toxic petrochemicals can be replaced with hemp oil.
Hemp oil can be made into anything with an oil base, including paint, varnish, detergent, solvent, and lubricating oil. The advantage of these product is that they are earth friendly and biodegradable, and do not destroy ecosystems around them like petrochemicals do.
Until the 1930s most paint and varnishes were made with non-toxic hemp oil. Hemp paint provides superior coating because hemp oil soaks into and preserves wood, due to its high resistance to water.
Hemp oil is a good base for non-toxic printing inks. Soy is currently made into inks, but soy ink requires more processing and takes longer to dry than hemp oil based inks.
Understanding how hemp can be used as a type of fuel is important for our society moving forward. Someone who has completed one of the many Masters in Civil Engineering Programs that are available could use this information when planning a specific project. The legal aspects of help could be examined during a Masters of Law Online, and putting together large scale hemp projects could be better understood through the completion of a Online Masters Project Management.
Hemp and The Environment
Hemp helps detoxify and regenerate the soil
Falling leaves and shrubs not used in processing fall to the ground and replenish the soil with nutrients, nitrogen, and oxygen. This rich organic mulch promotes the development of fertile grassland. Some of the carbon which is "breathed" in by the plant in the form of CO2 is left in the roots and crop residues in the field. The CO2 is broken down by photosynthesis into carbon and oxygen, with oxygen being aspirated back into the atmosphere. With each season more CO2 is reduced from the air and added to the soil.
Hemp roots absorb and dissipate the energy of rain and runoff, which protects fertilizer, soil, and keeps seeds in place. Hemp plants slow down the velocity of runoff by absorbing moisture. By creating shade, hemp plants moderate extreme variations in temperatures, which conserves moisture in the soil. Hemp plants reduce the loss of topsoil in windy conditions. Hemp plants also loosen the earth for subsequent crops
Hemp plants can even pull nuclear toxins from the soil. In fact hemp was planted near and around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site to pull radioactive elements from the ground. The process is called phyto-remediation, which means using plants (phyto) to clean up polluted sites. Phyto-remediation can be used to remove nuclear elements, and to clean up metals, pesticides, solvents, crude oil, and other toxins from landfills. Hemp breaks down pollutants and stabilizes metal contaminants by acting as a filter. Hemp is proving to be one of the best phyto-remediative plants found.
The minimum benefit of a hemp crop is in its use as a rotation crop. Since hemp stabilizes and enriches the soil farmers grow crops on, and provides them with weed-free fields, without cost of herbicides, it has value even if no part of the plant is being harvested and used. Any industry or monetary benefit beyond this value is a bonus. Rotating hemp with soy reduces cyst nematodes, a soy-decimating soil parasite, without any chemical input. Hemp could be grown as a rotation crop and not compete with any other food crops for the most productive farmland. Marginal lands make fine soil for hemp, or hemp can be grown in between growing seasons.
Hemp and the Environment
All hemp products are completely biodegradable, recyclable, and hemp is a reusable resource in every aspect: pulp, fiber, protein, cellulose, oil, or biomass.
Hemp can grow in any agronomic system, in any climate, and requires no herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, or insecticides to grow well. Hemp is its own fertilizer, its own herbicide (it is a weed), and its own pesticide. Hemp plants only need 10-13 inches of water, 1/3 of the amount which cotton requires, to grow to 8-12 feet in 3-4 months.
Using hemp as biomass fuel would also reduce global warming because the hemp energy crop would pull carbon from the air and realease an equal amount when burned, instead of just releasing carbon as petrolium gasoline does now.
Using hemp biomass to make charcoal, could eliminate the need to burn petrolium coal. Hemp biomass burns with virtually no sulfur emissions or ash, which minimize acid rain caused by the burning of coal.
Deforestation is a big problem. Keeping trees alive and standing is necessary to our oxygen supply, and our well being. Trees provide the infrastructure which keeps microbes, insects, plants, fungi, etc. alive. The older and bigger the tree, the better for the environment it is. The more trees there are, the more oxygen is in the air, which helps reduce global warming.
Hemp growing could completely eradicate the necessity to use wood at all because anything made from wood can be made from hemp, especially paper. The paper demand is suppose to double in next 25 years, and we simply cannot meet this demand without clear-cutting all of our forest. Using hemp for paper could reduce deforestation by half. An acre of hemp equals at least 4 acres of trees annually. Hemp paper can be recycled 7 to 8 times, compared with only 3 times for wood pulp paper. Hemp paper also does not need to be bleached with poisonous dioxins, which poison waterways.
Carpets made from nylon, polyester, and polypropylene contaminate ground water. Nylon and polyester can also be used to make mesh for things like gym shorts and Ergohuman office chairs. Hemp carpet is biodegradable and safe for the ground water when it is discarded. In 1993, carpet made up 1% of solid waste, and 2% of waste by volume.
Our garbage facilities are overfilling with plastics. Hemp can make plastics which are biodegradable.
Petrochemicals lubricants, paints, sealants, etc., poison the ground when they are discarded. Hemp can replace all of these petroleum-based products with non-toxic biodegradable organic oil-based products
We know of no species (other than some deadly microbes) that has been afforded the notability of an international effort to exterminate it globally.
Consider that there is NO EVIDENCE to support any of the government's allegations about the harmful effects of hemp that is not true of potatoes, strawberries, cotton swabs or blue jeans. Each of these (and many other common consumer items) creates more damage than hemp (or "marijuana").
While you consider that, consider also that the species in question is the single living organism that holds the greatest promise for renewable/sustainable food, fuel, clothing and shelter accessible to the widest possible range of people.
Hemp is the most versatile and adaptable crop plant on earth. It also provokes the most amazing politics. Why are politicians opposed to such a marvelous and valuable resource?
Hemphasis.net explores the politics while attempting to quickly and clearly parse the massive amount of information available on the various uses for hemp.
Hemp researchers might want to go directly to the site directory, which contains a convenient overview of all site content.
Every topic we discuss on this site is covered--often much more thoroughly--already on other websites, as well as in published literature. Hemphasis.net provides lots and lots of links to authoritative websites and literature. We recommend that you bookmark this site to aid in navigation back here when you've followed a link to another site.
....... Michael's House supports our work. Hemphasis is a member Hemp Industries Assn.
Other websites that have additional info and/or hemp products Monterey Bay Spice Co. HempUSA Ron Paul Hemp
Why industrial hemp?
Hemp seed ready for planting in 1999, Alberta, Canada
Food
Hemp is an excellent food source. It provides nearly complete nutrition. Hemp seed is a complete source of essential amino acids (EAAs). Hemp provides significantly more of all 8 EFAs than its closest competitors (meat, eggs, tofu), while providing the types and amounts of amino acids the body needs to make serum albumin and serum globulins, two other amino acids essential to life. Hemp protein contains all 20 known amino acids.
Hemp seed has over 30% protein. 65% of the proteins in hemp foods are in the form of globulin edistin (the word edistin comes from the Greek word “edestos,” which means edible). Edistin is considered by many to be the most easily digestible protein. The other 35% of the protein in hemp is Albumin, another of the most easily digestible proteins. Soy commonly has more protein than hemp, at 35%, but soy protein contains tripsid inhibitors that block proteins absorption, and oligosaccharides, which cause upset stomach and gas. Hemp protein is the most easily digested protein, and has all 10 EAAs, making it the best source for protein on the planet.
Hemp seed is also a complete source of essential fatty acids (EFAs), with optimal amounts and proportions of Omega-6, Omega-3, and GLA. Hemp seed (30-35% oil) is the highest in total EFAs, at 80-81% of total oil volume, of any food source.
EFAs, by definition, are essential and must be obtained through diet, because the body can’t produce them. EFAs help regulate brain function, the immune system, the endocrine system, aid in digestion, circulation, and practically regulate all systems in the human body. EFAs turn themselves into whatever the body needs to regulate itself chemically. Many American’s are deficient in EFA. A diet rich in hemp seed would greatly help humans to maintain health and happiness.
The fact is that hemp is the only food source with all 10 EAAs and all 4 EFAs.
Hemp seed oil can be used as cooking oil, to be added to hot pastas or mixed with salad dressings. Hemp seed "nut" (that which remains after the removal of the seed shell), may be added to many foods or incorporated in baking, and can withstand temperatures up to 300 degrees without hardening.
Pressed seed cake, or hemp meal (what remains after the oil has been pressed out), can be made into a cooking powder or flour. Hemp meal is also an ideal feed for animals. Recent experiments in Kentucky reveal that hemp-fed cattle require less feed and digest it more efficiently. Hemp seeds are also the preferred seed among birds. It is said to improve the frequency and mood of canary song.
Hemp nut is the most nutritious and easily digestible food on the planet, the only complete source of all the following: protein, essential amino acids and essential fatty acids. Hemp is the only food which supplies all man's dietary needs in one source -- the only food which can sustain human life without any other source of nutrition.
Hemp foods contain 35% carbohydrates, 30% fat, 35% fiber, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, C, D, and in particular vitamin E, and only 8% saturated fat, or less.
Complete Protein
Hemp contains 25% - 31 % protein, second only to soy (35%), but the protein in hemp foods is more easily digestible, because hemp contains globular proteins, albumin 33% and 65% edistin (a Greek word meaning edible), which have structures very similar to proteins made by the blood, which makes them readily digestible. A handful of hemp seed provides the minimum daily requirement of protein for adults. No other food source provides complete protein in such an easily digestible form, not even soy. Soy protein content is fairly difficult to digest.
Hemp foods contain all eight essential amino acids, Leucine, Lysine, Threoine, Phen+tyro, Valine, Meeth+cyst, Isoleucin, Tryptophan, with higher amounts of each than other main sources of protein, like egg whites, tofu, human milk, and whole cow's milk. Besides these 8 essential amino acids, hemp foods also provides the necessary types and amounts of amino acids the body needs to make serum albumin and serum globulins, two other amino acids essential to life. All of this makes hemp a complete source of protein.
Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)
EFAs are essential to tissue growth and help regulate many internal functions, which makes consuming them critical. Essential fatty acids are by definition, essential, because they can't be produced by the body, but must be obtained through diet, for proper growth and body functioning.
Hemp has Highest EFA Content
Hemp food (30-35% oil) is the highest in total essential fatty acids, at 80-81% of total oil volume, of any plant and provide the perfect ratio of Omega-6 (around 60%) to Omega-3 (20 %), a 3 to 1 ratio; the ratio recommended by health experts. Hemp nut is the only food item containing every EFA -- including rare stearidonic acid (SDA), and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), or super Omega-6, which is absent in flax and other major oils. GLA helps treat neurodermatitis, arthritis, and PMS, and together SDA and GLA reduce symptoms of atopic dermatitis and other skin diseases.
EFAs help organ muscles to contract, regulate stomach acid, help lower blood pressure, help maintain body temperature, regulate hormone levels, and break up cholesterol, while aiding in fat transportation and metabolism. The EFAs in hemp also help improve brain function.
EFAs support the immune system and guard against viral infection. Thus, they help cancer, HIV, and other patients whose immune systems are weakened. By reinforcing the immune system, hemp foods help aid in making a person healthy. Health experts have concluded that a diet rich in EFAs is one way to ensure that a person becomes and remains healthy.
Here are the conditions which may be helped by EFAs: addiction, arthritis, attention deficit disorder, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, constipation, diabetes, diarrhea, earache, edema, fatigue, immune deficiency, menopuase, MS, obesity, osteroporosis, premenstrual syndrome, tuberculosis, athersclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and skin conditions such as eczema, neurodermititis, and psoriasis.
EFAs also aid in cardiovascular health, which most Americans could improve upon, help stop sudden cardiac death, help improve mood in bippolar cases, and EFAs also help the reproductive system and should be consumed regularly by all pregnant women, because EFAs are vital to infant development.
Conclusions
Hemp's nutrients are the most important things we can get in our diets, and we Americans are not getting enough. As of now, 90% of Americans do not get enough EFAs into their diet. This is critical because a deficiency in EFAs will result in changes in cell structure (cancer), brittle and dull hair and nails, plus dandruff, allergies and possibly dermatitis.
Hemp foods could help reverse Americans' negative eating habits and make us healthier. Hemp could help us maintain our cholesterol levels while we continue to eat large amounts of animal products. We need EFAs to break down the cholesterol we ingest, so we don't get strokes and heart attacks.
Since hemp is the only food source with all the essential fatty acids, and contains them in perfect proportions (3 to 1, O-6 to O-3), contain all the essential amino acids, and all the protein needed to continue life, it seems silly to ban them. Why ban the most nutritious food source on earth? Seems kind of like a miracle that one food source could contain everything a person needs and in the perfect ratios.
Body Care
Because of hemp oil's high EFA content, especially GLA, helps skin cells to communicate to rebuild cell membranes, which keeps the skin from getting dry. Hemp oil is an excellent natural emollient and moisturizer (lotions and cosmetics), because of its Essential Fatty Acid (EFA) content. EFAs do not clog up pores like saturated fats do. EFAs can be absorbed into the cells, which enables skin cells to comunicate, and repair skin cell membranes resulting in softer, smoother, and more moisturized skin.
Most moisturizing products on the market are made from saturated oils, which are not absorbed by the skin cells, but only coat the surface, but do nothing to prevent further moisture loss.
Skin care products with hemp oil help restore dry and damaged skin, increase the natural moisture retention capacity, while slowing down skin aging. Hemp skin care products are excellent for broken or damaged skin, and are useful for sufferers of eczema, psoriasis, and mastalgia (breast pain).
EFAs also allow hemp hair care products to bring gloss and manageability by relieving dry scalp or hair loss and damage brought on by blow dryers, chemical perms, coloring and sunlight with moisturization. Hemp seed oil provides the proper balance of essential nutrients needed for strong healthy hair. Hair is often damaged and stripped of its natural lipid coating, which makes hair brittle and lack luster. Hemp seed oil helps revitalize the hair shaft, increase volume, elasticity, softness and shine, because its EFAs deeply penetrate your mane.
Fiber
Hemp is among the longest, strongest, most elastic, and most durable fibers in nature. As far as natural fibers go, it yields some of the strongest and most durable fabric, cloth, canvas, cordage, and textiles. It is highly resistant to mildew, rotting, and is very anti-microbial.
Compared to cotton, hemp textiles are stronger, more durable, use one third the amount of water, and require no crop chemicals. Cotton uses 25-30% of the worlds toxic crop chemicals.
Why Hemp Fabrics?
Historical Review
The physical advantages of hemp fiber are its length, strength, durability, elasticity, and ability to withstand high temperatures without degeneration.
Hemp rope has long been praised for its ability to withstand rot, mildew, and insects. It is strong and very elastic and keeps its strength and gets softer as it ages. 70%-90% of all rope, twine, and cordage were made from hemp until 1937 for this very reason.
Hemp canvas is resistant to ultraviolet light damage, heat and mildew, and repels insects. The word "canvas" actually derives from the word "cannabis".
Hemp's long bast fiber can be spun into threads, yarn for rope, twine, cordage, heavy canvas, or knit, or woven into a variety of fine linen-like quality fabrics.
Evidence
Mildew: Hemp's historical dominance of the shipping industry (sails, rope, rigging) because it was mildew-, rot-, and light-resistant is evidence enough.
Elasticity: Historical and modern research indicates that hemp is very elastic, but not as elastic as flax. No specific studies were found.
UV (UltraViolet): Tilley has come out with a new hemp hat. The Tilley hemp fabric has been certified with a UPF 50+, the maximum UV protection rating given. (www.tilley.com)
Durability & Strength: Barbara Filippone of EnviroTextiles commissioned all the following tests. These results are for specific fabrics. Fabric strength and durability are not only a result of the fiber, but also of the success of the weave.
Wyzenbeck ASTMD 4157 -- Abrasion study on 12 100% Hemp Fabrics from China. Results: Fabrics passed for residential use (furniture). Some passed for contract industry standards.
ASTM D 3886D -- Abrasion resistance. Results: Hemp fabrics had a high abrasion resistance in residential use.
ASTM D 1424D -- Tear Resistance. Results: Hemp fabrics have an excellent tear resistance.
ASTM 5035D -- Strength Test. Results: The 100% hemp fabrics tested had a high strength.
Fireproof Properties: CAFB 117 Section E-D California Fire Standard for 100% Chinese and European Hemp Fabrics. Results: All Fabrics met the fire standard.
Antimicrobial Properties (This is important in fabric assessment, but it also ranges into hair and skin care, as well as in treatment of and prevention of health problems): Hemp is resistant to the growth of Aspergillus Niger.
Matt Bergh, in partial fulfillment for B.S. at California Polytechnic State University (San Luis Obispo), in conjunction with professor Dr. Christopher Kitts. "Comparative Study of the Resistance to Aspergillus Niger by Hemp, Cotton, and Flax," June 2003.
"Cannabidiol (CBC), one of the four major cannabinoids in Cannabis sativa L., was discovered to possess strong anti-inflammatory, and anti-bacterial qualities and mild to moderate anti-fungal properties."
Turner CE, Elsohly MA. "Biological activity of cannabichromene, its hemologs and isomers," Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, Aug-Sep 1981. Issue 21. p. 283S-291S.
How Does Hemp Stand Up
Now that we know that hemp textiles are industry tested for strength, durability, UV protection, mildew and rot resistance, fire resistance, elasticity, and we know that hemp can be grown without herbicides and pesticides nor fungicides or fertilizer (if crop rotation is utilized to optimize the nitrogen in the soil), we need to see how hemp stands up to its competition.
The information we've found on hemp vs. other textiles is varied. Further research needs to be done comparing hemp to other fabrics. However all sources we've come across tell us that cotton uses about 50% of the world's toxic crop chemicals, and that hemp is stronger, lasts longer, is more absorbent, is warmer, breathes better, is more microbially-resistant, and that hemp requires only a third as much water as cotton to grow and only a tiny fraction of the fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide that cotton does.
Cotton kills. Hemp regenerates.
Building Materials
Hemp can make most building materials, including caulking, cement, fiberboard, flooring, insulation, paneling, particleboard, plaster, plywood, stucco, mortar, and biodegradable plastic.
Hemp can also be formed into cement-/concrete-like walls. This material is called hempcrete. Hempcrete is a building material that is formed by combining air-lime based binders with the chopped core of the hemp plant stem. It can be pored into a form almost identical to pouring concrete, or spray applied. Hempcrete homes are lightweight, fire-, water-, earthquake-, and rodent-resistant, have excellent thermal mass and insulation characteristics that allows the homes to breath, which saves money on heating and cooling costs, has high sound insulation, and good flexibility.
This building technique also sequesters a lot of carbon, reversing the damaging effects of greenhouse gases, providing one the best value materials for low impact, sustainable and commercially viable construction. The Roman aqueducts were most likely built this way, as were still active bridges in France dating to the sixth century. Homes such as these are being built in Europe today, and a new Chicago company called American Lime Technology is ready to use this technique here in the U.S.
Rebuilding in a developing world
by Scott Blossom
The ecosystem is beginning to show many signs that the Earth is continually seeking to balance the many forces that are acting upon it. We can no longer deny the fact that our continual drive for economic growth has a drastic effect on the natural capital that our traditional economy is based upon. Many great leaders of this country such as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington have sighted the importance of local agriculture and independence from foreign resources.
Unfortunately, as we continue to put pressure on the Earth to supply us with non-renewable materials, massive amounts of energy are released in ways that can detrimental the human existence. Although many of these changes may seem to be on a scale that is much too large for us to control, we are beginning to see the increasing role that humans have in a fragile, yet powerful ecosystem.
In recent years, we've seen dramatic weather changes, along with increased risk of storm, flood and fire. Natural disasters, such as those that are represented by what we have seen recently on the East Coast in the form of Hurricane Isabelle, and on the West Coast in the form of large forest fires, present a realistic view of the natural changes that are currently happening are currently influencing our ecosystem.
In addition, we are seeing human induced occurrences influencing the ecosystem as well. Many of our water resources are exhibiting decreasing water quality, and increased flood activity due to our creation of impervious surfaces and runoff laden with toxic materials. As a result of this, we are seeing much of our soil, our valuable and usable land, being polluted washed away with increased amounts of erosion, and our agricultural fields being filled with sedimentation.
When our children can no longer safely sunbathe, or swim in rivers, there is evidence that the once-finely tuned relationship between humankind and nature is out of balance.
Although many natural disasters are beyond human intervention, we do have a direct influence on the environment with our methods of re-building after their occurrence. Development can actually repair environmental destruction with intelligent bioengineering and advanced ecological agriculture. Most importantly, we can heed the advice of our forefathers, while taking advantage of current technology, and begin to make intelligent planning and engineering decisions as we continue to develop and grow into a society that can be can be economically and environmentally stable.
In this developing world we must actively design communities that allow us to work with the environment, while utilizing the production of our building materials as an actual method of remediation and retrofitting of our current situation. By doing so, we can continue to grow at a rate that is sufficient to keep the economy strong, as well as allow our environment enough time to regenerate, even as we harvest agricultural resources that will replace synthetic materials. By using renewable materials that alleviate the need to extract those of which have taken years to form, we can release the many levels of pressure on the earth, before forces of nature release themselves. With this goal in mind, we are guided to design solutions that utilize renewable resources such as the industrial hemp plant.
In the development of a community plan we may explore how a renewable resource such as industrial hemp can be used in conjunction with innovative design to stabilize the economy, as it stabilizes the environment.
Site
One of the first aspects in developing a new community, or renovating an existing community is to select a site that is suitable for sustainable development, which in many cases, requires the treatment of areas that have been previously impacted.
The industrial hemp plant can be used in remediation of brownfields, as it has a higher nutrient uptake than any other agricultural crop. The industrial nature of this crop lends itself well to these types of applications as its products can be used for many industrial applications (as we will discuss later) other than consumption. In addition, the hemp plant can be an integral part of the reforestation projects that are necessary after a large forest fires, or a large clear cuts.
Industrial hemp is excellent sown in a fallow field, as well as in crop rotation; the roots loosen soil, and fallen leaves return beneficial organic matter to the soil. In many cases industrial hemp can be planted as a means to stabilize soil, thus lessening the amount of valuable land that is lost to erosion. In addition, the fibers from the hemp plant can be arranged in a fiber matrix that can be secured to eroding slopes as erosion control blanketing and matting, as well as into fiber logs that help in the prevention of shoreline erosion.
The actual growth of the plant itself can alleviate the need for the millions of pounds of toxic fertilizer that contaminates our watersheds. In all of these ways, the growth of industrial hemp can help in the restoration of our watersheds and streams, as it is grown for usable materials that will be later used in the community design.
Cutting edge methods of managing stormwater using low impact development techniques such as bioretention and vegetated filter strips as a means reducing peak runoff rates, improving water quality, and replenishing aquifers, lend a whole new potential for the incorporation of the industrial hemp plant into our landscape.
Building
Many traditional methods of buildings utilized local materials to construct buildings and sheds. By strengthening agricultural base we can return power back into the people who work American soil, thus decreasing the need for dependence on foreign resources. Industrial hemp holds the potential to strengthen growing communities on reservations and rural areas, as the fibers and hurd from the hemp plant can reinforce traditional adobe and fiber reinforced concrete mixtures. In addition, one acre of hemp produces as much cellulose fiber pulp as 4.1 acres of trees, resulting in an excellent material to be used in the composites industry.
Hemp resin can be used as an additive in the creation of biodegradable polymers that help to reduce the problems of waste disposal associated with toxic materials. Biodegradable polymers can potentially be combined with plant fibers to produce biodegradable Eco-Composite materials. The reinforcement of these polymers by means of vegetable fibers improves their mechanical properties and opens up new fields of application within the construction industry with the use of techniques such as film stacking, injection molding, and press consolidation.
A mixture of hemp fibers and hurds subjected to extreme heat and pressure can be molded into a completely biodegradable material that possesses excellent thermal and acoustic capabilities, as well as being fire-resistant and competitive in mechanical characteristics (tensile and compressive strength) with modern materials that are produced with a petrochemical base. Many of these qualities have been extensively tested with techniques such as electron microscopy an analysis of crystallographic changes that occur within the organic biopolymer that exists within the hempen matrix.
Research in the area of biological renewable materials has shown that the main building blocks of life &endash; carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and their derivatives &endash; could be substitute products from the modern non-renewable resources. (Almost everything made from a hydrocarbon can be produced from a renewable carbohydrate.) The advantage of using a renewable resource as the root of our building industry can be seen as we assess the life cycle of the material through its growth harvest and production, as well as in the examination of the gases that are released into the environment (or household) after construction.
Many modern materials produce harmful off-gas that silently infiltrates into our bodies during everyday activities. By using industrial hemp to manufacture non-toxic products, we can alleviate the release of many harmful chemicals into the atmosphere, as well as improve upon the overall health of the community. The cellulose from the hemp plant can be extruded into almost any product. By varying the heat, pressure, chemistry, and retention time with the extrusion process a range of fiber and cellular materials with multiple strength characteristics can be generated.
Products for the home industry that have been created using the industrial hemp plant include, but are not limited to: eco-composite paneling, fiberboard beams, roof shingles, carpets, biodegradable paints, curtains, and rugs.
Transportation and Energy
The biomass from the hemp plant can converted into many forms of energy that can be used throughout the household and the community. Biomass can be converted to methane, methanol, ethanol, or gasoline at a fraction of the current cost of oil, coal, or nuclear energy. As an energy crop, hemp can contribute to the biodiesel industry in applications such as heating homes, as well as a trillion dollar biofuel industry that can supply the fuel necessary to run automobiles or airplanes. Think of all the college students booking flights for a Cancun all inclusive, or the wealthy people vacationing in a Dominican Republic hotel. All of those gallons of jet-fuel could be replaced by hemp. These methods have been proven capable of competing with the non-renewable fossil fuel industry, as well as reversing the Greenhouse Effect through its growth and harvest that removes CO2 from the atmosphere. In addition being an excellent lubricant for industrial applications, hempseed oil can be used as lighting oil. As Abraham Lincoln demonstrated, it produces the brightest lamplight, and offers an alternative to costly energy bills.
Perhaps one of the most beneficial characteristics of this renewable resource is that the hemp plant can be used in its entirety, and that a streamlined life-cycle assessment yields positive impacts on the environment throughout the growth, harvest, and production stages. The industrial hemp plant offers a wide variety of high performance applications through the many aspects of community design, and will help strengthen our local economy, return power back to our local agricultural industry, and restore the environment as it grows.
Resources
Conrad, Chris. "Hemp; Lifeline to the Future" Creative Expressions Publications. Los Angeles, California 1994.
Berman, Allen. "Your Naturally Healthy Home: Stylish, Safe, Simple" Rodale.
Pejis, Ton. International Conference on EcoComposites" Queen Mary University, London.
Hemp Industries Association. Occidental, California
Hemp World/Hemp Pages. Forestville, California 2000
Cars
European plants are making auto panels from hemp based composites that are biodegradable, half the weight of, more durable, and safer than fiberglass counterparts. Most car companies are using 100% hemp car interior panels in all new models. Henry Ford made a hemp based car in the 1940’s that was more dent-resistant than steel. A sledgehammer blow could not even break the windows of these cars, which were made from hemp.
Fuel
Hemp seed oil can be used as fuel to drive cars, heat homes, and power industry. Hemp produces biomass, which can be converted into sulfur-free charcoal for electricity; plus ethanol, methanol and other sources of fuel. Burning biomass for energy, instead of fossil fuels, helps keep the carbon dioxide cycle in balance. Hemp can produces more biomass per acre than any plant practical for farming in the Midwest. One acre of hemp has the prospect of producing 10 tons of biomass in a growing season. Hemp energy could make the U.S. less dependent on foreign petroleum, and keep the environment healthy.
Biodiesel fuel from Hemp Seed Oil
Hemp seed oil can be used as is in bio-diesel engines. Methyl esters, or bio-diesel, can be made from any oil or fat including hemp seed oil. The reaction requires the oil, an alcohol (usually methanol), and a catalyst, which produces bio-diesel and small amount of glycerol or glycerin. When co-fired with 15% methanol, bio-diesel fuel produces energy less than 1/3 as pollution as petroleum diesel.
Energy and Fuel from Hemp Stalks through Pyrolysis
Pyrolysis is the technique of applying high heat to biomass, or organic plants and tree matter, with little or no air. Reduced emissions from coal-fired power plants and automobiles can be accomplished by converting biomass to fuel utilizing pyrolysis technology. The process can produce, from lingo-cellulosic material (like the stalks of hemp), charcoal, gasoline, ethanol, non-condensable gasses, acetic acid, acetone, methane, and methanol. Process adjustments can be done to favor charcoal, pyrolytic oil, gas, or methanol, with 95.5% fuel-to-feed ratios. Around 68% of the energy of the raw biomass will be contained in the charcoal and fuel oils -- renewable energy generated here at home, instead of overpaying for foreign petroleum.
Pyrolysis facilities can run 3 shifts a day, and since pyrolysis facilities need to be within 50 miles of the energy crop to be cost effective, many new local and rural jobs will be created, not to mention the employment opportunities in trucking and transportation.
Hemp vs. Fossil Fuels
Pyrolysis facilities can use the same technology used now to process fossil fuel oil and coal. Petroleum coal and oil conversion is more efficient in terms of fuel-to-feed ratio, but there are many advantages to conversion by pyrolysis.
1) Biomass has a heating value of 5000-8000 BTU/lb, with virtually no ash or sulfur emissions.
2) Ethanol, methanol, methane gas, and gasoline can be derived from biomass at a fraction of the cost of the current cost of oil, coal, or nuclear energy, especially when environmental costs are factored in. Each acre of hemp could yield about 1000 gallons of methanol.
3) When an energy crop is growing, it takes carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air, and releases an equal amount when it is burned, creating a balanced system, unlike petroleum fuels, which only release CO2. When an energy crop like hemp is grown on a massive scale, it will initially lower the CO2 in the air, and then stabilize it at a level lower than before the planting of the energy crop.
4) Use of biomass would end acid rain, end sulfer-based smog, and reverse the greenhouse effect.
Coal
Unlike petroleum reserves, America has enough coal to last 100-300 years, but burning it for electricity puts sulfur -- toxic to every membrane in which it comes in contact, especially the simplest life forms -- into the air, which leads to acid rain, which kills 50,000 Americans, and 5,000 - 10,000 Canadians, annually, and destroys the forests, river, and animals. Not only is electricity production a common use of coal, but it is also used in smelting furnaces across the world. In order to boil tungsten, a popular metal used in jewelry, a furnace must be heated up to 5700 degrees Celsius; that's approximately the same heat as the surface of the sun!
Charcoal can be created from biomass through pyrolysis (charcoaling), which has nearly the same heating value in BTU as coal, virtually without sulfur. Biomass can also be co-fired with coal to reduce emissions, an important consideration since not only is coal a common heating element, but on the flip side many Americans run air conditioners and quality ceiling fans off electricity from coal-fired powerplants. Replacing coal would be a fantastic use of hemp.
Ethanol and Methanol
Ethanol is a water-free, high-octane alcohol which can be used as fuel to drive cars. Under current conditions, use of ethanol-blended fuels such as E85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) can reduce net emissions of greenhouse gases by as much as 37.1%. Ethanol-powered vehicles do suffer in performance (barely), but ethanol is effective as a fuel additive because it helps engines burn cleaner.
Once pyrolysis facilities are up and running, converting biomass into charcoal for electrical power plants, it will be more feasible to build the complex gasifying systems to produce ethanol and/or methanol from the cubed biomass, or to make high-octane lead-free gasoline from the methanol using a catalytic process developed by Georgia Tech University in conjunction with Mobil Oil Corporation.
Ethanol is currently being used as a fuel additive, replacing toxic methyl tertiary ether (MTBE). Ethanol producers are currently providing only 1% of America's liquid fuel. Soon though, as new development processes are researched, and with the use of hemp, the plant worlds number one producer of biomass, the cost of this alternative fuel will give petroleum vigorous competition.
Hydrolysis: A process whereby cellulose is converted to fermentable glucose, which holds the greatest promise for production and feedstock, because it could produce 100 gallons/ton. Tim Castleman and the Fuel and Fiber Company are researching this technology. Their method extracts the high-value bast fiber as first step. Then the remaining core material (mostly hurd) is converted to alcohol (methanol, ethanol), and then to glucose. Hydrolysis could produce 300,000 to 600,000 tons of biomass per year per facility, if each facility could process input from 60,000 to 170,000 acres.
Gasification: A form of pyrolysis which converts biomass into synthetic gas, such as ethanol, and low grade fuel oil with an energy content of about 40% that of petroleum diesel. This process is good for community power-corporation and people seeking self-sufficient energy needs. A small modular bio-powered system is in place in the village of Alaminos in the Philippines, using gasification techniques for energy.
Anaerobic Digestion: A process of capturing methane from green waste material (biomass). This process is toxic, but well suited for distributed power generation when co-located with electrical generation equipment.
Boiler: Biomass can also be burned in a boiler, but this energy has a value of $30-50 ton, which makes it impractical due to the higher value of hemp fiber, unless used on a local small scale, and in remote rural applications.
Hemp Produces the Most Biomass of Any Plant on Earth.
Hemp is at least four times richer in biomass/cellulose potential than its nearest rivals: cornstalks, sugarcane, kenaf, trees, etc.
Hemp produces the most biomass of any crop, which is why it is the natural choice for an energy crop. Hemp converts the sun's energy into cellulose faster than any other plant, through photosynthesis. Hemp can produce 10 tons of biomass per acre every four months. Enough energy could be produced on 6% of the land in the U.S. to provide enough energy for our entire country (cars, heat homes, electricity, industry) -- and we use 25% of the world's energy.
To put which in perspective, right now we pay farmers not to grow on 6% (around 90 million acres) of the farming land, while another 500 million acres of marginal farmland lies fallow. This land could be used to grow hemp as an energy crop.
Conclusion
The most important aspect of industrial hemp farming, the most compelling thing hemp offers us, is fuel. Right now we are depleting our reserves of petroleum and buying it up from other countries. It would be nice if we could have a fuel source which was reusable and which we could grow right here, making us completely energy independent.
Petroleum fuel increases carbon monoxide in the atmosphere and contributes heavily to global warming and the greenhouse effect, which could lead to global catastrophe in the next 50 years if these trends continue. Do you want to find out if they are right, or do you want to grow the most cost effective and environmentally safe fuel source on the planet?
Using hemp as an energy and rotation crop would be a great step in the right direction.
Hemp Seed Oil
Hemp seed oil has historically been used as lamp oil. It is said to shine the brightest of all lamp oils. Hemp seed oil lit the lamps of Abraham Lincoln, Abraham the prophet, and was used in the legendary lamps of Aladdin.
Anything which can be made from fossil fuels can be made from an organic substance like hemp. Toxic petrochemicals can be replaced with hemp oil.
Hemp oil can be made into anything with an oil base, including paint, varnish, detergent, solvent, and lubricating oil. The advantage of these product is that they are earth friendly and biodegradable, and do not destroy ecosystems around them like petrochemicals do.
Until the 1930s most paint and varnishes were made with non-toxic hemp oil. Hemp paint provides superior coating because hemp oil soaks into and preserves wood, due to its high resistance to water.
Hemp oil is a good base for non-toxic printing inks. Soy is currently made into inks, but soy ink requires more processing and takes longer to dry than hemp oil based inks.
Understanding how hemp can be used as a type of fuel is important for our society moving forward. Someone who has completed one of the many Masters in Civil Engineering Programs that are available could use this information when planning a specific project. The legal aspects of help could be examined during a Masters of Law Online, and putting together large scale hemp projects could be better understood through the completion of a Online Masters Project Management.
Hemp and The Environment
Hemp helps detoxify and regenerate the soil
Falling leaves and shrubs not used in processing fall to the ground and replenish the soil with nutrients, nitrogen, and oxygen. This rich organic mulch promotes the development of fertile grassland. Some of the carbon which is "breathed" in by the plant in the form of CO2 is left in the roots and crop residues in the field. The CO2 is broken down by photosynthesis into carbon and oxygen, with oxygen being aspirated back into the atmosphere. With each season more CO2 is reduced from the air and added to the soil.
Hemp roots absorb and dissipate the energy of rain and runoff, which protects fertilizer, soil, and keeps seeds in place. Hemp plants slow down the velocity of runoff by absorbing moisture. By creating shade, hemp plants moderate extreme variations in temperatures, which conserves moisture in the soil. Hemp plants reduce the loss of topsoil in windy conditions. Hemp plants also loosen the earth for subsequent crops
Hemp plants can even pull nuclear toxins from the soil. In fact hemp was planted near and around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site to pull radioactive elements from the ground. The process is called phyto-remediation, which means using plants (phyto) to clean up polluted sites. Phyto-remediation can be used to remove nuclear elements, and to clean up metals, pesticides, solvents, crude oil, and other toxins from landfills. Hemp breaks down pollutants and stabilizes metal contaminants by acting as a filter. Hemp is proving to be one of the best phyto-remediative plants found.
The minimum benefit of a hemp crop is in its use as a rotation crop. Since hemp stabilizes and enriches the soil farmers grow crops on, and provides them with weed-free fields, without cost of herbicides, it has value even if no part of the plant is being harvested and used. Any industry or monetary benefit beyond this value is a bonus. Rotating hemp with soy reduces cyst nematodes, a soy-decimating soil parasite, without any chemical input. Hemp could be grown as a rotation crop and not compete with any other food crops for the most productive farmland. Marginal lands make fine soil for hemp, or hemp can be grown in between growing seasons.
Hemp and the Environment
All hemp products are completely biodegradable, recyclable, and hemp is a reusable resource in every aspect: pulp, fiber, protein, cellulose, oil, or biomass.
Hemp can grow in any agronomic system, in any climate, and requires no herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, or insecticides to grow well. Hemp is its own fertilizer, its own herbicide (it is a weed), and its own pesticide. Hemp plants only need 10-13 inches of water, 1/3 of the amount which cotton requires, to grow to 8-12 feet in 3-4 months.
Using hemp as biomass fuel would also reduce global warming because the hemp energy crop would pull carbon from the air and realease an equal amount when burned, instead of just releasing carbon as petrolium gasoline does now.
Using hemp biomass to make charcoal, could eliminate the need to burn petrolium coal. Hemp biomass burns with virtually no sulfur emissions or ash, which minimize acid rain caused by the burning of coal.
Deforestation is a big problem. Keeping trees alive and standing is necessary to our oxygen supply, and our well being. Trees provide the infrastructure which keeps microbes, insects, plants, fungi, etc. alive. The older and bigger the tree, the better for the environment it is. The more trees there are, the more oxygen is in the air, which helps reduce global warming.
Hemp growing could completely eradicate the necessity to use wood at all because anything made from wood can be made from hemp, especially paper. The paper demand is suppose to double in next 25 years, and we simply cannot meet this demand without clear-cutting all of our forest. Using hemp for paper could reduce deforestation by half. An acre of hemp equals at least 4 acres of trees annually. Hemp paper can be recycled 7 to 8 times, compared with only 3 times for wood pulp paper. Hemp paper also does not need to be bleached with poisonous dioxins, which poison waterways.
Carpets made from nylon, polyester, and polypropylene contaminate ground water. Nylon and polyester can also be used to make mesh for things like gym shorts and Ergohuman office chairs. Hemp carpet is biodegradable and safe for the ground water when it is discarded. In 1993, carpet made up 1% of solid waste, and 2% of waste by volume.
Our garbage facilities are overfilling with plastics. Hemp can make plastics which are biodegradable.
Petrochemicals lubricants, paints, sealants, etc., poison the ground when they are discarded. Hemp can replace all of these petroleum-based products with non-toxic biodegradable organic oil-based products