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Industrial Hemp as a Biofuel

A brief history in hemp has to be discussed in order to truly understand the full

potential of one of the only plants that is a biomass resource capable of making America

energy independent. The strange thing in looking at hemp or cannabis is how legal and

socially acceptable; in fact it was the leading agricultural crop in the world. It was even

used in the United States at one point, known primarily as hemp. Hemp or Cannabis

Sativa is considered to be one of the few robust, soft, and durable fibers that can be

grown in every civilized country in the world. Although industrial hemp is legal to grow

in the United States, I will be discussing the prohibition that limits commercial

production, the uses and benefits of Hemp, and it's use as an alternative to fossil fuels, as

a biofuel.

History of Hemp

Up until 1833 and for centuries before then hemp was considered to be one of the

most beneficial agricultural crops on the planet. Originally believed to be cultivated for

its fiber in China in 2800 B.C. by the legendary Chinese emperor Shen Nung (The Great

Book of Hemp 45). It was then brought into Europe and American settlers brought the

seeds with them in their original explorations of America (Hemp 87). Hemp had a

majority of uses and the ability to make several products. The main supply of medicines,

fabrics, textiles, lamp oil, and paper was made from hemp. "In 1611, formal orders

arrived from England instructing the colonists to raise hemp" (Hemp-American History

Revisited 14). Robert Dietch writes "many of America's founding fathers became

wealthy by producing hemp or hemp products, including George Washington, Thomas

Jefferson and one of the richest colonists, Robert "King" Carter. Jefferson received the

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first US parent for inventing a machine that would break down hemp. Even Benjamin

Franklin's wealth was derived from hemp - he was America's leading paper producer and

it was all derived from hemp" (Hemp - American History Revisited 19). The first two

copies of the Declaration of Independence were written on hemp paper which is still in a

museum in Washington D.C. and the pages have yet to yellow or wilt. (The Hemp

Manifesto 35)

Up until the 1800's most of the textiles and fabrics in the United States were made

of Cannabis hemp. The states that grew hemp were Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Indiana

but it has long been discontinued. The world's leading hemp fiber producers are Russia,

Yugoslavia, and Italy (Encyclopedia Americana 87). 50 percent of the medicines that

were sold in the later half of the 1900's included Cannabis. Even Queen Victoria used the

resin extracts from Cannabis to alleviate her menstrual cramps (The Great Book of Hemp

54).

The interesting thing about industrial hemp is that its THC

(Tetrahydrocannabinol) levels are so low, .03%, that you cannot get high from smoking

or ingesting it, although it is grouped in with its cousin, Marijuana or also known as

Cannabis Sativa. This led to a movie entitled "Reefer Madness" the "original

antimarijuana film (1936), offering the true inside story of the devil weed that drives men

to savage lusts and women to unspeakable depravities, along with a little bit of dumb

fun" (www.chicagoReader.com). This in turn led to the first tax on Cannabis, called the

1937 Marijuana Tax Act. This tax would include all forms of cannabis including hemp

fabrics and oil, cannabis medicines, and industrial hemp.

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It was speculated that the abundance of hemp and its endless uses would be in

direct competition with other manufacturing companies such as oil, timber, and

pharmaceutical companies. This aided the "reefer madness" and ultimately caused the

prohibition of Cannabis. Popular Mechanics had prepared an article entitled "New

Billion Dollar Crop" in it stated that hemp can "produce over 5,000 textile products" and

"25,000 products from its cellulose, ranging from dynamite to Cellophane". Its

superiority as a source for paper was quickly being common knowledge. Especially with

the development of hemp processing equipment, called the Decorticator which was used

to harvest and break down the stalks of hemp (New Billion Dollar Crop).

The tax act was a good idea but the only problem was a stamp needed to be

purchased but the Government was not issuing them to anyone. This in turn led to

Cannabis becoming illegal and frowned upon. It wasn't until World War II when the

Japanese cut off our supply of hemp fiber crops that the United States again removed the

ban on cannabis and encouraged farmers to grow hemp to help the military, they even

made a video entitled “Hemp For Victory". This video encouraged the public and

farmers to grow hemp to help produce fabrics and food for the military. Yet after the war

the government again banned all use of marijuana including all forms of hemp.

Uses

The hemp plant grows to about 3-16 ft. tall and extends with 3-7 leaflets that are

2-6 inches which gives it alot of material to work with giving it multiple uses (Hemp 87).

When the hemp plant is broken down it produces three main parts the fiber, the hurd, and

the seed. Which can manufacture textiles, cordage, construction products like wood and

plywood. "In December 1941 Henry Ford proudly displayed the first automobile "grown

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from the soil" with a plastic body made from 70 percent hemp, wheat straw, and sisal

with 30 percent hemp resin binder. The interesting thing is it weighed only a third less

than most steel cars but withstood ten times the impact strength "(The Great Book of

Hemp 12).

Secondly, the hurd can be used to make paper and packaging, furniture, electrical

fixtures, automotive components, paints and sealants, and plastic and polymers. A

French company, Isochanvre, has patented a procedure using hemp that is non toxic and

has built over 250 homes with the average cost of the home being $14,000 (The Great

Book of Hemp 13). Other commercial uses that can be derived from the seed are

lubricants and fuel, energy and biomass, compost, food and fuel. With all these products

derived from one plant, which can seeminglessly be grown and harvested like other

products we already use like corn and cotton. The only challenge is that hemp is still

classified as a level one substance on the DEA and Federal Drug list. The question the

United States needs to ask itself with a rising unemploymemt rate, recession, shortage of

foreign oil, and looming global warming issues is there a need for a new industry? Yes,

there is. One that can do the job now being met by fossil fuels and nuclear energy; one

that can be farmed without polluting soil, air, or water; one that is self-suffecient and

local, which does not exploit or make us dependent on foreign countries. This industry

would also employ those that were laid off from petrochemical, timber, and cotton, and

automotive companies and industries. This industry would be the hemp industry and

would not need much infrastructure because it could use the same harvesting, cultivating,

packaging, and distribution methods we already have in place.

Medical Benefits

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Here's another suggestion that is up for debate. If the United States legalized

marijuana and taxed it like we do tobacco and alcohol and put the money back into the

healthcare system, help lower taxes, and pay for federal and state needs. I mean how

much money could a simple plant generate? It is estimated that the sale and distribution

of marijuana and hemp could produce over $15 Billion dollars in revenue that is not

dependent on foreign countries but created by the United States alone (Hemp Life Line

To the Future 83). Again this is not a paper on Marijuana but hemp is illegal because they

are synonumous so it's only fair to discuss some major benefits derived from the plant. "

Industrial hemp and herbal Cannabis are two separate industries. Certain strains of

cannabis grown under the right conditions, produce compounds worth billions in savings

to the healthcare and insurance industries, but Cannabis is not just a drug. Drug is a

prejudicial calth-all term that includes manufactured chemicals and pharmaceutical

medicines." ( Hemp Life Line to the Future 82). From being used to treat health

conditions like cancer, AIDS/HIV, pain, migraine, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis,

Epilepsy/seizures, heart disease, high cholesterol, anxiety, arthritis, mental health, back

problems, and able bodied young man syndrome (Cannabis Yields and Dosage 4-5).

"One of Marijuana's greatest acheivement as a medicine is it's remarkeable safety. It has

little effect on major psychological functions. There is no known source for lethal

overdose;...Marijuana is far less addictive and far less subject to abuse than most drugs used as

muscle relaxers, hypnotics, and analgesics. The ostensible indifference of physicians, should no

longer be used as justification for why this medicine is kept in the shadows (Journal of the

American Medical Association 1874-1875 ).

"Hempseed is a tasty and complete source of nutrition, which contains eight essential

proteins and rare essential fatty acids" (Hemp Life Line to the Future 82). Generally, it's used to

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feed livestock and poultry but can be mass produced for human consumption and sold and

marketed in soups, cereals, cakes, and other foods. The industries and market potential for seed

and oil made from hemp just add to the value of the glorious crop. Other health benefits of

Cannabis THC are used to control inflamation, antihistamine, treat alcoholism

"in 1953 Drs. L Thompson and R. Proctor tested the synthetic cannabinoid Pyrahexyl in

the treatment of alcohol withdrawal amd obtained positive results in seventy cases ".

-From Medicine, Marijuana, &the Law, in the book The Great Book of Hemp pg. 52

alleviate insomnia, treat opiate addiction, treatment of ulcers, morning sickness, eczema,

dandruff, and other skin diseases. Hempseed oil is one of the few sources of gammalinolenic acid

(GLA), an essential fatty acid that resembles sebum, the natural lubricant in skin and hair. For

this reason, personal hygiene products made with hempseed oil enhance the skin's softness and

smoothness and help lend hair its natural sheen and body. A number of companies now have

hempseed based hair and skin-care products on the market. These products include massage oil,

lip balm, shampoo, conditioner, perfume, body soap, skin cream, facial scrub, and salve ( The

Hemp Manifesto).

Besides the health benefits there are also environmental benefits from hemp. The

problems with deforestation and the green house effect are caused by using nuclear energy znd

burning fossil fuels. There is a two way benefit of using hemp for the environment. First the

planting and harvesting of the hemp plant cleanses the soil acting like a natural herbacide which

chockes out weeds from sunlight and nutrients. Making it ready for the next season's crop which

can be corn, tomatoes, or cotton.

Second the burning of hemp processing and the combustion of hemp based ethanol

returns back to the air wich is recycled by the trees and hemp plants themselves amd release

carbon dioxide eliminating the "greenhouse effect". "Unlike gasoline, ethanol does not produce

any of the sulfur or other air pollution responsible for acid rain and various diseases. Conversion

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of automobile engines from gas-burning to ethanol-burning would dramatically clean the worlds

air". (The Hemp Manifesto)

Regulation of hemp

Cannabis is the plant, but can be split up into male and female strains. The male plant is

considered hemp or industrial hemp. The female plant, known as marijuana, which contains the

psychoactive element and is smaller and has a bud and flower. Distinguishing between the two

strains is from the same family is like telling the difference between a Great Dane and a

Chihuahua. Although being a very obvious distinction the road to hemp regulation has been

greatly altered by private and commercial interest.

The laws that deal with the cultivation of hemp can be put on three men Henry J.

Anslinger, Lammont DuPont, and William Randolph Hearst, who made growing hemp illegal.

Anslinger was the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, DuPont and Hearst were the owners

of the largest chemical company and newspaper, respectively. Anslinger was the nephew of

President Henry Hoover, who's Secretary of State just happened to be Andrew Mellon, Dupont's

Banker. Hearst and Anslinger used the newspapers and political cartoons to start a media blitz on

the fight against dope. Anslinger used fear and panic as "horror stories pandering to the

protective parents instincts, lumping together various intoxicants under umbrella catchwords like

"drug" and "dope." The newspapers, particulalry the Hearst papers, published these fabrications

as real news without investigating the facts. Of course, Hearst put more emphasis on Marijuana."

(Hemp-American History Revisted 89) When the passing of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 by

Henry Anslinger, it made Dupont the main manufacturer of synthetic fibers. After Hearst and

Dupont lead the way in making paper and plastic this ultimately lead to the depletion and

destruction of the planet's natural resources and environment.

After twenty years, in the 1950's Anslinger reversed his position on Marijuana. By using

the anti-communist sentiment being referred to as McCarthyism, but this time instead of horror

stories he depicted Americans who used Marijuana as pacifists. Before the creation of the FBN,

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nothingbsuggested that recreational drug use was ever a social problem in the United States. So in

order for Anslinger to have job security if he he realized he would have to get the heads of the

Treasury Department to justify budget allocations. This was accomplished by making a

perveived problem bigger than it really was knowing Congress would have to spend more money

if their was a reason. Herman Oliphant, Treasury Department's Cheif Counsel, and Anslinger

presented their legislation deceitfully "by supressing the the truth and misrepresenting the facts,

keeping Congress and and the public unaware of what they were really up to: outlawing hemp."

( Hemp - American History Revisted 91) Unlike a democracy, the Marijuana Tax Act was kept a

secret until Oliphant and Anslinger presented it to the House Ways and Means Commitee. Jack

Herrer points out to two main reasons that the House and Ways Committee was chosen: First, it

was they only committee that could send bills directly to the House of Rep. and not have other

committee's debare them. Secondly, Chairman Robert Doughton, known for being a Dupont ally

could help push the bill through Congress and on to the President.

The Marijuana Tax Act did not criminalize hemp, marijuana, or Cannabis but just levied

a tax on it, which was a dollar an ounce. The act did state penalty provisions or enforcement

policies that hemp, Cannabis and hemp handlers would be subject. These varied from $2000

fines and up to five years of prison time.

Natural Energy and Biofuels

After discussing all the uses and benefits of hemp, one that I will dive into with a bit

more depth is the ability to make oil and fuel from the seed and stalk from hemp. When hemp is

grown for fuel every crop releases huge amounts of oxygen which is the same air that is released

when burned off and recycled by earth's plants. This in turn can end the "greenhouse effect",

global warming, and deforestation problems. Since there are hundreds of strains of industrial

hemp, it means that it can be grown almost on any part of the planet making a great resource for

fuel. The goal should be to eliminate using fossil fuels and nuclear energy, and start to use wind,

wave, sun, and biofuels.

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First, hemp seed can be used for its making hemp-seed oil which has the same boiling

range and viscosity to petroleum diesel fuel. "Once processed, however, this hybridized fuel

source produces full engine power with reduced carbon monoxide and 75 percent less soot and

particulates." (The Great Book of Hemp 31) Yet again the debate is not whether fuel can be

manufactured this way or not, but if other uses for the crop can be more profitable. Although if

farmers were allowed to use this as an alternative to fuel, the self sufficient process could reduce

the overall cost or production and increase the farm's profitability season after season.

Discussing using other parts of the hemp plant for fuel, the stalk is far more productive

than just limiting the development of fuel to hemp seed. " Hemp's woody stalk can be removed

and bailed or bundled and burned directly for heat and to power boilers that generate electricity.

The cellulose and hemicelulose in the core can be ezymatically or bacteriologically broken down

into starches that can, in turn, be fermented into alcohol fuels or further digested into methanol,

ethanol, or methane gas." This isn't new science or technology, in fact the ancient Egyptians

developed a method called pyrolysis, which can produce "charcoal, noncondensable gases, acetic

acid, acetone, methanol, and condensable organic liquids known as pyrolytic fuel oil."(The Great

Book of Hemp 31)

In money terms we can break this down to the numbers. A acre of hemp can produce up

to five to ten tons of dried stalk. Using five tons as an example, we can convert that to 500

gallons of methanol per acre, at 60 cents per gallon this makes 300 dollars gross per acre which is

more than what wheat and corn crops produce. In turn this saves the farmer money if they are

buying fuel at $600 for those same 500 gallons, it cut costs to them by half. So how much would

the United States need to grow to fulfill the energy needed some say "that meeting U.S. demands

for oild and gas would require intensive cultivation of only 6 percent of the land area of the 48

contiguous states, or just over 116 million acres." (The Great Book of Hemp 32) Not only will

the stalk provide an energy source but the biomass that is produced from the cultivation hemp

could also be used for energy and fuel.

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Conclusion

Despite hemp being regulated the way it is at this point, it will be only a matter of time

before the public and the government become more aware of the harm that we are doing to our

planet with the consumption of fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Although marijuana or Cannabis

is not addictive, learning about it's countless benefits and uses certainly will catch on. A lie can

not be sustained forever, the United States will have to admit it's mistake in outlawing hemp and

once again we will be able to be self reliant on a natural and God given plant. As Thomas

Jefferson said, "Hemp is necessity to the wealth & protection of the country." Ironically the

creator of the model T himself, Henry Ford said, "Why use up 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 hemp fields?" After reviewing the facts of

hemp and the benefits it provides, the regulation of hemp, and it's potential for being a biofuel we

must help others to understand the uses and how it will conserve our planet rather than depleting

its natural resources.

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Works Cited

1. Concrad, Chris. "Cannabis Yields and Dosage: A Guide to the Production and Use Medical

Marijuana" California. Creative Xpressions Publications. 2010. Web. April 25, 2012

2. Conrad, Chris. Hemp Lifeline to The Future: The Unexpected Answer for Our

Environmental and Economic Recovery. Second Ed. California. Creative Xpressions

Publications. 1994. Print.

3. Hughes, Jonathon. "Hemp Fibers Industry." The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History.

Ed. Joel Mokyr. Volume 2. 2003. Print.

4. Osburn, Lynn. "Hemp for Clean Sustainable Fuel." www.equalrights4all.org. California. April

25, 2012.

5. Rahn, Joan E. "Hemp." The Encyclopedia Americana: International Edition. Volume 14. 1829.

Print.

6. Robinson, Rowan. The Hemp Manifesto. Vermont: Parker Steet Press, 1997. Print.

7. Robinson, Rowan. The Great Book of Hemp. Vermont. Parker Street Press. 1996. Print.

8. "The New Billion Dollar Crop." Popular Mechanics. February 1938. Web. April 23, 2012.

9. "Reefer Madness" www.chicagoreader.com. Chicago. Web. June 1, 2012.