by HempingtonPost | Dec 23, 2019
The ‘sober’ cousin of marijuana deserves some more time in the spotlight. While it’s not going to give you a buzz, it is capable of an even higher power.
Hemp is already known to produce vital resources such as rope, clothing, and paper, however this humble plant will likely serve an even greater purpose in our immediate future.
Harmful fossil fuels, mountains of plastic, and our ever-growing population are rapidly sucking the earth’s resources dry. We are terribly unsustainable as a population, and our actions have resulted in this climate crisis, which will be the biggest issue that we will ever face, and it’s already happening.
While we may be hoping that some technological advancement will be what saves us, really – it could be as simple as this humble hemp plant. Maybe we don’t need to colonize another planet. But we definitely do need to change our ways.
Not only can hemp produce a biodegradable alternative to plastic, be made into an eco-friendly and sustainable fuel source, and save the trees – it can also work to reduce the negative impacts of industrialization.
As more and more architects turn to hemp as a sustainable material, it may soon be a realistic alternative that with hope, could replace our traditional toxic materials. A biotechnology company known as Mirreco, which is based in Australia has recently shared its plans to 3D print hemp homes.
Mirreco cites environmental concerns as one of their primary motivations. Within their time working with this technology and material, they have developed a way to produce hemp panels which can be used in both residential and commercial building projects.
Mirreco says that these 3D printed panels are “structurally sound, easy to produce, and provide superior thermal performance.”
In a recent statement, the company said:
“Just imagine living and working in buildings that are 3D-printed and available to move into in only a matter of weeks. The floors, walls and roof will all be made using hemp biomass, and the windows will incorporate cutting-edge technology that allows light to pass through glass where it is converted into electricity.”
Currently, there is not enough sand to sustain the increasing demand for conventional concrete. This poses a huge risk in the environmental crisis. Since the specific sand which needed for concrete is often harvested from riverbeds, gathering this, in lieu, destroys the ecosystem and threatens the biodiversity of plants, fish, and animals.
While people don’t often think much of sand, this is actually our second most used natural resource in the world. Surpassed only by water. There is such a high demand for sand that there is an incentive for cartels to fight over resource-rich territories. Yes, the sand mafia exists.
The construction industry really needs to make a change. If they were able to adopt a renewable alternative such as hemp, it could seriously improve many of our social, economic and environmental concerns.
While Mirreco isn’t the first company to make houses out of hemp, they are the first to do so with 3D printing technology. This company may be worth researching and investing in!
This story originally appeared at The Hearty Soul.
by HempingtonPost | Dec 7, 2019
Hemp paper is stronger and more environmentally sound than wood paper.
This story is originally from RXLeaf.com
Hemp is a truly remarkable plant. It’s essentially the gift that keeps on giving. In addition to CBD oil, food, clothing or fuel, it can also make hemp paper. This paper type is likely the ideal replacement to wood pulp paper in our quest for a greener, cleaner world.
What is Hemp Paper?
The hemp plant is rich in cellulose. When boiled, beaten, or shredded into tiny fibers it can then be spread onto sheets that are pressed and dried to make a pulp.
When compared to wood pulp, hemp pulp offers several advantages. Fibers are generally four to five times longer than those found in wood pulp. This is something that leads to higher tear resistance and tensile strength in the resulting paper.
Hemp paper is commonly used in applications where there’s a need for high-strength paper as in the case of banknotes, stamp papers, and postal stamps. While many view it as a viable alternative to wood pulp, production costs are higher, something that currently prevents its widespread adoption.
The Benefits of Hemp Paper
The benefits of hemp paper extend far and wide as seen below. They include the quality of the paper itself to the associated efficiencies in cultivation as well as the wide-reaching environmental benefits.
- Hemp offers superior quality paper: Hemp paper fibers do not decompose or deteriorate by turning yellow or brown like wood pulp paper does.
- Quick growing: Hemp stalks grow in four months, while trees take between twenty to eighty years.
- Increased yields: One acre of hemp on average will produce as much paper as four to ten acres of trees.
- Environmentally friendly: Recycling hemp paper up to eight times is normal, while pulpwood paper can only tolerate three times.
- Less harmful chemicals: Bleaching must occur with woodpulp paper via a process that uses many toxic chemicals. Hemp pulp requires no bleaching.
- Reduced deforestation: Disturbed and angered by the images of the Amazon rainforest burning this year? Well, the wider adoption of hemp paper substantially reduces the alarming rates of deforestation.
- Abundant cellulose: Cellulose is the principal component of paper. Trees contain thirty percent cellulose, while hemp plants contain up to eighty-five percent cellulose.
Can Hemp Reduce the Global Carbon Footprint
Hemp has some notable advantages when it comes to carbon footprint. This is something of great relevance in these challenging times for the global climate.
An Australian parliamentary report recently studied the role of industrial hemp in carbon farming. It concluded that hemp can absorb “more CO2 per hectare than any forest or commercial crop and is therefore the ideal carbon sink.”
The abilities of hemp to sequester carbon is nothing short of remarkable. Hemp begins to sequester carbon as soon as it is seeded. And one hectare of industrial hemp can absorb twenty-two tonnes of CO2. This translates to 1.62 tonnes of sequestered CO2 per ton of harvested hemp.
The fact that fast-growing hemp can grow to heights of thirteen meters in less than four months means that it’s often seen as the ideal solution when compared to other agroforestry alternatives.
In addition, hemp grows even in nutrient-poor soil. It requires minimal amounts of water and no artificial fertilizers are necessary.
Pulp Paper is a Big Source of Pollution
As the raw material for pulp paper, trees have always been widely available and affordable. With such affordability comes high consumption and high waste levels. But how does the production of pulp paper contribute to the global carbon footprint?
Science disputes just how much of a polluter the paper industry is. Studies exist that put forward strong arguments for both sides. One Chinese case study, published in Applied Energy (2015), claimed that within China, CO2 emissions from the paper industry, “ranged from 126.0 Mt to 155.4 Mt”. The report touted it as being the “largest source of carbon emissions.”
A report published in the Environmental Engineering and Management Journal (2012), provided a thorough breakdown of the environmental impact of pulp and paper mills. Researchers attributed the environmental impact from the wood pulping industry to come from the bleaching process. The resulting pollutants that are subsequently introduced to the environment are chiefly made up of harmful sulfur compounds and nitrogen oxides that pollute the air.
Wastewater is also a concern, and discharged bleaching effluence consists of chlorinated organic compounds. These human-made chemicals, known as xenobiotics, persist in the environment for considerable periods. Pulp mills are also voracious consumers of water. With the discharging of waste waters often taking place at a rate of twenty to one hundred cubic meters per ton of product.
The Counter Evidence for Hemp Paper
Evidence put forward from the U.S. Environmental Protection agency paints a rather different picture, however. The research claims that, “greenhouse gas emissions from the pulp and paper industry has dropped from 44.2 to 37.7 million metric tons CO2”. The fifteen percent betterment is due to improved energy efficiency and the, “increased use of less carbon-intensive fossil fuels.”
Furthermore, a report published by the National Emissions Inventory (2014) claims that “the pulp and paper industry in North America produced only about 0.5 percent of the total carbon emissions in 2014.”
Paper Production and Deforestation
While the short term effects of the industry will inevitably cause a debate, few can argue with the increased rates of deforestation.
The destruction of forests around the globe essentially results in the destruction of, not only local habitat, but . Birds and animals thrive in the forest and are much more vulnerable to predators with the continuous cutting down of trees.
An article that appeared in National Geographic (2019) cited the fact that much of the wood that fuels the paper industry comes from illegal logging operations in the Amazon. In the past fifty years, seventeen percent of the Amazonian rainforest has been destroyed. While not all of this can be attributed to paper production, it certainly does make the case for sustainably sourced hemp as a viable alternative.
The Future of Hemp Paper
With the recent spread of legalized cannabis across much of North America, the aversion by association that many have toward hemp is slowly beginning to wane. With the recent passing of the Farm Bill, hemp has once again become a viable crop. And along with paper production, it’s wide and varied uses may just be the catalyst for some positive global changes.
This story first appeared at RX Leaf.
by HempingtonPost | Dec 5, 2019
Could hemp be the plant that saves the planet? It is the best soil contaminant cleaner, and that includes radioactive waste.
Editor’s Note: some text has been updated for clarity (11/30/2019) following feedback from readers. Please see comments for more information.
Is there anything hemp can’t do? The mostly outlawed plant, once cultivated by George Washington at his Mount Vernon home, can be made into fabric, paper, pasta, and fuel, but now scientists have discovered a more subtle and astonishing use for cannabis sativa: saving the planet from our waste. Hemp can even get rid of radioactive soil contaminants.
Industrial hemp, the common name for low-THC varieties of cannabis grown for non-medicinal-related uses, has been shown to be extremely adept at sucking up harmful chemicals from the soil, allowing former radioactive spill sites to become fertile (and safe) once again.
How Do They Clean Up Soil Contamination?
Ordinarily, unusable soil that has been sullied by heavy metals or nuclear material is fixed through a process called remediation, which involves sowing designer chemicals into the earth that “eat up” the poisons. Think of it like using a magnet to collect tiny bits of metal floating in a glass of water. Remediation, however, doesn’t come cheap. It’s a billion-dollar industry.
However, all of that can happen naturally—and much less expensively—through what’s known as phytoremediation (phyto- from the Greek for “plant”). In phytoremediation, the roots of plants like hemp or mustard, dig deep into contaminated soil and, through their natural growth process, suck up the harmful chemicals right alongside the beneficial nutrients that remain. These polluting elements are completely removed from the ground and stored within the growing plants—usually within the leaves, stems or stalks.
Phytoremediation with Hemp
Scientists at Colorado State University (CSU), including Elizabeth Pilon-Smith, have spent decades pondering how plants can help clean the soil. This link to a CSU student summary of hemp phytoremediation gives a nice review of that we know so far (2012), including links to peer-reviewed studies on the subject.
There is always more research coming in, but hemp has been thrust into the phytoremediation spotlight because it has a few genetic perks that make it ideal for the job:
Hemp has a Long Root System
This plant can grow to eight feet below the surface, giving soil a deep clean.
Hemp is Fast Growing
Hemp reaches full maturity in six months and isn’t harmed by soil contaminants.
Hemp is Inexpensive
When compared to chemical remediation, hemp is far less expensive, and can then be harvested and used as a cash crop.
Hemp that has been used to remove the fertility-killing elements cesium and cadmium, for instance, can be used as fuel in biomass engines, processed into insulation or paper. It probably should not, however, be eaten or smoked.
Industrial hemp is already being used as a phytoremediator in heavily contaminated areas throughout the world. One town in southern Italy saw its agriculture and livestock industries go bust after a local steel mill’s output polluted the ground for miles around. A shepherd there was forced to euthanize his 600-member flock, so he took up planting hemp, which has been steadily cleaning his soil ever since.
Can Hemp Be Used for Cleaning Up Radioactive Soil?
The most famous uses of hemp as a way to clean and revive soil could from some of the worst environmental disasters of the modern era. The nuclear accidents in Chernobyl, Ukraine and Fukushima, Japan may benefit from soil detox thanks to industrial hemp. Scientists working in Chernobyl in 1990s reported that hemp, along with mustard, are able to remove heavy metals from the soil.
For one plant to be able to clean up the most hazardous material mankind has ever created is simply amazing. Cannabis is literally saving the human race from itself.
And now, thanks to loosening government restrictions on the use and cultivation of cannabis, the practice may be expanding to polluted sites all over the United States and the world.
For example, the University of Virginia, which is located relatively close to grounds that have been toxified by coal mines throughout the region, has partnered with a biotechnology company to genetically modify hemp plants to make their pollutant uptake even stronger. The project could lead to vast amounts of reclaimed land that could be used for farming
The idea is simple. Just as phytoremediation was an improvement on chemical remediation, using industrial hemp was another head and shoulders above using other plants, like trees or sunflowers. In addition to its long roots, which allow the plant to absorb more soil contaminants, and its quick lifecycle, hemp is also a hardy plant. It requires much less watering and regular tending than do sunflowers.
The biggest problem for this potentially world-saving solution? Government regulations.
Cultivating hemp is still illegal in Japan, which is directly impacting how quickly cleanup around the Fukushima nuclear power plant can proceed. And in the U.S., the semi-legality of cannabis makes everything from testing plants to securing research loans harder than it needs to be.
This story first appeared at RX Leaf.
by HempingtonPost | Nov 25, 2019
A Vancouver Island home built using cutting-edge green technology is now move-in ready.
It’s called the Harmless Home, and the exterior walls are constructed out of Lego-like building blocks, made essentially of compressed hemp, lime and water.
Now, it’s being hailed as the most sustainable, safest and most energy-efficient house possible.
Homeowner Arno Keinonen recently settled in.
“We are very happy with the end result,” he said.
The product itself is being manufactured in Calgary. It doesn’t mould and is virtually fire-resistant.
“We heat it up to over 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit, and it barely has an impact,” said Just Bio Fiber builder Mark Faber. “Very unlikely for this house to catch fire.”
The blocks also absorb carbon, making them grow even stronger over time. As for the cost, it’s in line with other alternatives.
“With those aspects and the condition the world is in now, this just has to go — it just has to,” said Just Bio Fiber director Michael DeChamplain.
The Harmless Home was the first project of its kind, and two more are now in the works.
The hope is to make this a standard in the building industry, Faber explained.
“So far, we’ve seen that it is easy to use and put together — once we develop and really dial in the system, I think we’ll be able to be competitive with all other building systems out there.”
The home, located just outside Victoria, will continue to be monitored to make sure it’s operating as efficiently as possible.© 2018 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
This story first appeared at Global News.ca
by HempingtonPost | Nov 12, 2019
Henry Ford’s Model T was famously made partly from hemp bioplastic and powered by hemp biofuel. Now, with battery-powered vehicles starting to replace those that use combustion engines, it has been found that hemp batteries perform eight times better than lithium-ion. Is there anything that this criminally-underused plant can’t do?
The comparison has only been proven on a very small scale. (You weren’t expecting a Silicon Valley conglomerate to do something genuinely groundbreaking were you? They mainly just commercialise stuff that’s been invented or at least funded by the state.) But the results are extremely promising.
The experiment was conducted by Robert Murray Smith – who has built up quite a following on his YouTube channel– of FWG Ltd in Kent. He observed a Volts by Amps curve of both the hemp and lithium batteries and found that the power underneath the hemp cell was a value of 31 while that of the lithium cell had a value of just 4. Although he does not claim to have proven anything, he said that the results of his experiment showed that the performance of the hemp cell is “significantly better” than the lithium cell.
It comes as no real surprise, which is presumably why he conducted the experiment. In 2014, scientists in the USfound that waste fibres – ‘shiv’ – from hemp crops can be transformed into “ultrafast” supercapacitors that are “better than graphene”. Graphene is a synthetic carbon material lighter than foil yet bulletproof, but it is prohibitively expensive to make. The hemp version isn’t just better, it costs one-thousandth of the price.
The scientists “cooked” leftover bast fibre – the inner bark of the plant that usually ends up in landfill – into carbon nanosheets in a process called hydrothermal synthesis. “People ask me: why hemp? I say, why not?” said Dr David Mitlin of Clarkson University, New York, in an interview with the BBC. “We’re making graphene-like materials for a thousandth of the price – and we’re doing it with waste.”
Dr Mitlin’s team recycled the fibres into supercapacitors, energy storage devices which are transforming the way electronics are powered. While conventional batteries store large reservoirs of energy and drip-feed it slowly, supercapacitors can rapidly discharge their entire load.
This makes them ideal in machines that require sharp bursts of power. In electric cars, for example, supercapacitors are used for regenerative braking. Releasing this torrent requires electrodes with high surface area, one of graphene’s many phenomenal properties.
Mitlin says that “you can do really interesting things with bio-waste”. With banana peels, for example, “you can turn them into a dense block of carbon – we call it pseudo-graphite – and that’s great for sodium-ion batteries. But if you look at hemp fibre its structure is the opposite – it makes sheets with high surface area – and that’s very conducive to supercapacitors.”
Once the bark has been cooked, “you dissolve the lignin and the semicellulose, and it leaves these carbon nanosheets – a pseudo-graphene structure”. By fabricating these sheets into electrodes and adding an ionic liquid as the electrolyte, his team made supercapacitors which operate at a broad range of temperatures and a high energy density.
Mitlin’s peer-reviewed journal paper ranks the device “on par with or better than commercial graphene-based devices”.
“They work down to 0C and display some of the best power-energy combinations reported in the literature for any carbon,” he adds. “For example, at a very high power density of 20 kW/kg (kilowatt per kilo) and temperatures of 20, 60, and 100C, the energy densities are 19, 34, and 40 Wh/kg (watt-hours per kilo) respectively.” Fully assembled, their energy density is 12 Wh/kg – which can be achieved at a charge time less than six seconds.
At the end of 2018, Texas-based electric motorcycle company Alternet announced that it was working with Mitlin to power motorbikes for its ReVolt Electric Motorbikes subsidiary.
So there you have it. If we already knew that there is no need to use the fossil fuels that are destroying the planet’s climate, because hemp biofuel provides a better alternative, we now know that there is no need to destroy the environment by mining for lithium and the materials that are used in batteries. We can literally grow technology. Hemp can save and power the world.
This article was first published in The Quarter Leaf issue 1.
by Hempington Post | Sep 17, 2019
Most reading this article may agree by now, the Cannabis Industry could be ‘the answer’ for planetary wellness, environmental enhancement and economic freedom.
ThinkingOutLoud… Darlene Mea CEO/Founder hempingtonPost.com
‘At some point our political leaders, big brother, the petrochemical industrial complex and all the others takers of this planet will get the point: No Planet = No Profit! ‘
Our world is at the tipping point of complete chaos, depletion and extinction of everything real and meaningful. We are still using and promoting a petrochemical synthetic world with the notion that tomorrow will continue to thrive if we stay on this trajectory… and not one candidate addresses this most important primary issue.
No one is talking about what we’re actually going to do to improve the environment, climate change, economics and wellness for all people. Who’s talking about: A WORLD BEYOND PETROLEUM?…No one!!! Cannabis has been around for eons and 12,000 of recorded history, yet no one is talking about the power of it’s epic reemergence and why it leads to sustainable living! The simplicity of an agricultural revolution to supplant petroleum is at the fingertips of multinational corporations.
Already the marijuana industry is bringing in billions. The global market for medicinal cannabis was worth approximately $11 billion in 2015, and is expected to reach $56 billion by 2025, according to market research firm Grand View Research. Yet the growers and dispensaries are still at the risk of being an all cash business with no banking privileges because Marijuana, even though legal, is still federally categorized as a Schedule 1 drug, which makes it illegal and incompatible with all Federal systems.
Cannabis/Marijuana has proven to be amazing medicine for thousands of years. Did you know the U.S. government with the National Institution of Health, NIH has funded Mechoulam research for the past 50 yearsto Israel. The National Institute of Health has provided an average of $100,000 a year to study the medicinal benefits of cannabis.
While our government has been giving life sentences Marijuana possession, it is giving money to Israel to study the benefits of the plant. it’s crazy and wrong…Even now with all it’s healing properties, marijuana/cannabis is still shunned by many states due to belief in old propaganda created for and from the petrochemical industrial complex.
The history of cannabis is convoluted. I encourage you to read Doug Fine’s Hemp Bound, or to see Jack Herer’s The Emperor Wears No Clothes and Hemp for Victory, You will see the ban of this plant was never about marijuana. The ‘Cannabis take away’ was about the massive industrial use of hemp when the decorticator was introduced in America, 1937, Popular Mechanics Magazine! They called it then the Next Billion Crop. That’s when it all changed! – it’s fascinating and aggravating how legality was manipulated by powerful business entities. This intervention for profit is in effect today.
Now after 77 years, as stated in the ‘TAX LAW of 1937’, cannabis comes back for reinstatement. In 2014 the New Farm Bill was signed by President Obama, and the Cannabis Plant was now up for study? However, it has been studied for centuries.
Hemp is already the environmental, economics and wellness answer; it has no bad side effects. Yes, for the FDA, food and drug, CBD, skin care, superfoods can be kept with the thc low and keep it regulated for the assurance of all who still fear the plant. But why destroy a farmers ‘hot crop’, over 0.3% thc? Any ‘hot crop’ could become a hemp home, plastic, hemp wood, paper, shoes, graphite, biofuel, why destroy it.
Because our country has become a corporate run state, it would be natural for a petrochemical mogul to take over massive hemp production and the secondary creation of industrial processing required to form a viable industry. According to this model, the Hemp economy will come into fruition when petrochemical products become increasingly less profitable. Ideally, they can turn their energies on bringing US back to a life-sustaining world again.
Please take the credit and make the big bucks. This may be our only hope for the future. Currently the hemp growers are focused on the medical model, as they cross their fingers and hope that the secondary terpenes are isolated and popularized so they can make their hard work pay off.
Our planet can no longer sustain balance. We call upon a petrochemical giant to pull us forward with profiteering visions of Hemp Industry domination. We invite that. Please save us from our undercapitalized efforts to transform a wonderful beneficial plant into a panoply of life giving products and effects. Please step up and grab hold of the Hemp Industry with corporate zeal. Let the world benefit from your greed for profits. The time is now, please.
FREE THE PLANT. Insist on THC limit changes for our upcoming 2020 election. Let our farmers grow, grow and grow. We have no more time to study this ancient miracle plant !
Get involved – write or call your elected officials and tell them, You will have our Vote only if you publically strongly support making Cannabis Legal. With this we can green our world and turn life around for all.
Join us at HempingtonPost.com where our mission is ‘We the People insist on our human rights…Together We Grow! We all know by now, Big Business is about profit, but with our world in serious disserey we say, NO PLANET, NO PROFIT!
