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Hemp's Energy Promise
Pubdate: Mon, 11 Jul 2005
Source: Nelson Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Nelson Daily News
Contact: http://www.nelsondailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/288
Author: Russell Barth
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?330 (Hemp - Outside U.S.)
HEMP'S ENERGY PROMISE
Special To The Daily News
With the price of crude oil and gasoline soaring ever higher, there
is increasing talk of "alternative energy sources". We all know that
the price of gas will never drop below 75 cents per litre again, and
that one day, maybe even in the next 20-30 years, we will have to
give up on crude oil entirely. So why not start phasing crude oil out
right now?
Ethanol fuel from corn is cost prohibitive and causes some
environmental damage. Hydrogen cars and their fuel is also cost
prohibitive, as are hybrid cars. What we need is some sort of crop
that can be grown cheaply and easily and with no environmental
damage, and is renewable. That crop is Hemp. (Enter "Hemp Fuel" in Google)
Here are some interesting facts about Hemp that you should share with
the public.
Fuel: Farming 6% of the continental U.S. acreage with biomass crops
would provide all of America's energy needs.
Hemp is Earth's number-one biomass resource; it is capable of
producing 10 tons per acre in four months.
Biomass can be converted to methane, methanol, or gasoline at a cost
comparable to petroleum, and hemp is much better for the environment.
Pyrolysis (charcoalizing), or biochemical composting are two methods
of turning hemp into fuel.
Hemp can produce 10 times more methanol than corn.
Hemp fuel burns clean. Petroleum causes acid rain due to sulphur pollution.
The use of hemp fuel does not contribute to global warming.
Food: Hemp seed can be pressed into a nutritious oil, which contains
the highest amount of fatty acids in the plant kingdom. Essential
oils are responsible for our immune system responses, and clear the
arteries of cholesterol and plaque.
The by-product of pressing the oil from hemp seed is high quality
protein seed cake. It can be sprouted (malted) or ground and baked
into cakes, breads, and casseroles. Hemp seed protein is one of
mankind's finest, most complete and available-to-the-body vegetable proteins.
Hemp seed was the world's number one wild and domestic bird seed
until the 1937 Marijuana prohibition law.
Fibre: Hemp is the oldest cultivated fibre plant in the world.
Low-THC fibre hemp varieties developed by the French and others have
been available for over 20 years. It is impossible to get high from
fibre hemp. Over 600,000 acres of hemp is grown worldwide with no
drug misuse problem.
One acre of hemp can produce as much usable fibre as 4 acres of trees
or two acres of cotton.
Trees cut down to make paper take 50 to 500 years to grow, while hemp
can be cultivated in as little as 100 days and can yield 4 times more
paper over a 20 year period.
Until 1883, from 75-90% of all paper in the world was made with
cannabis hemp fibre including that for books, Bibles, maps, paper
money, stocks and bonds, newspapers, etc.
Hemp paper is longer lasting than wood pulp, stronger, acid-free, and
chlorine free. (Chlorine is estimated to cause up to 10% of all Cancers.)
From 70-90% of all rope, twine, and cordage was made from hemp until 1937.
A strong lustrous fibre; hemp withstands heat, mildew, insects, and
is not damaged by light. Oil paintings on hemp and/or flax canvas
have stayed in fine condition for centuries.
Medicine: From 1842 through the 1880s, extremely strong marijuana
(then known as cannabis extractums), hashish extracts, tinctures, and
elixirs were routinely the second and third most-used medicines in
America for humans (from birth through old age). These extracts were
also used in veterinary medicine until the 1920s and longer.
For at least 3,000 years prior to 1842 widely varying marijuana
extracts (bud, leaves, roots, etc.) were the most commonly used real
medicines in the world for the majority of mankind's illnesses.
The U.S. Pharmacopoeia indicated cannabis should be used for treating
such ailments as fatigue, fits of coughing, rheumatism, asthma,
delirium tremens, migraine headaches, and the cramps and depressions
associated with menstruation.
In this century, cannabis research has demonstrated therapeutic value
and complete safety in the treatment of many health problems
including asthma, glaucoma, nausea, tumors, epilepsy, infection,
stress, migraines, anorexia, depression, rheumatism, arthritis, and
possibly herpes.
Industry: Almost any product that can be made from wood, cotton, or
petroleum (including plastics) can be made from hemp. There are more
than 25,000 known uses for hemp.
For thousands of years virtually all good paints and varnishes were
made with hemp seed oil and/or linseed oil.
Hemp stems are 80% hurds (pulp by-product after the hemp fibre is
removed from the plant). Hemp hurds are 77% cellulose - a primary
chemical feed stock (industrial raw material) used in the production
of chemicals, plastics, and fibres.
Hemp has been used throughout history for carpet backing. Hemp fibre
has potential in the manufacture of strong, rot resistant carpeting -
eliminating the poisonous fumes of burning synthetic materials in a
house or commercial fire, along with allergic reactions associated
with new synthetic carpeting.
Plastic plumbing pipe (PVC pipes) can be manufactured using renewable
hemp cellulose as the chemical feed stocks, replacing non-renewable
coal or petroleum based chemical feed stocks.
In 1941 Henry Ford built a plastic car made of fibre from hemp and
wheat straw. Hemp plastic is biodegradable, synthetic plastic is not.
So I have two questions: 1) Why is the government not promoting this
amazing product, which is already legal in Canada, and 2) Why is the
media at large not informing the public about this product?
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MAP posted-by: Beth