We have a responsibility to provide for at least 7 generations ahead. Phytoremediation is a tool we can use to achieve that goal.
How do we know that phytoremediation works to help us heal our environmental crisis? Below are some links, videos, books and experts on phytoremediation as a tool to solve many pollution problems, CO2 induced climate change, nuclear plants and waste, oil, lead, heavy metals and many more.
“In 1998, Phytotech, along with Consolidated Growers and Processors (CGP) and the Ukraine’s Institute of Bast Crops, planted industrial hemp, Cannabis sp., for the purpose of removing contaminants near the Chernobyl site. Cannabis is in the Cannabidaceae family and is valuable for its fiber, which is used in ropes and other products. This industrial variety of hemp, incidentally, has only trace amounts of THC, the chemical that produces the “high” in a plant of the same genus commonly known as marijuana.”
“Hemp and cesium accumulation • A study done in 2005 by Vandenhove and He’s tested hemp’s ability to uptake of radiocesium. – Sandy soils used to emulate Chernobyl conditions – Used a lysimeter and pots in greenhouse. • Soil was contaminated with approx. 326 kBq/kg in pots and 13.0 kBq/kg in the lysimeter and harvested after 186/136 days. • Chernobyl accident was contaminated at 1480 kBq/m^2”
“Hemp Cleans is currently supporting research into development of cultivars which will be ideally suited to Colorado’s climate. The seed stock developed as a result of this research will be used for the purposes of expanding the phytoremediation pilot project to include evaluations of cultivation in fire-scorched alpine soils and saline agricultural environments.”
“Overall, phytoremediation has great potential for cleaning up toxic metals, pesticides, solvents, gasoline, and explosives. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that more than 30,000 sites in the United States alone require hazardous waste treatment. Restoring these areas and their soil, as well as disposing of the wastes, are costly projects, but the costs are expected to be reduced drastically if plants provide the phytoremediation results everyone is hoping for.”
“We all know that hemp was helpful in cleaning up the toxins around Chernobyl, and with a bit of planning by a mastermind alliance, can be used to clean up the environmental mess again.
An immediate end to hemp prohibition will allow us to use this biomass champion in a hemp phytoremediation program.
“Phytoremediation can be defined as the decontamination of soil, sediment or water using plant growth. Industrial hemp, Cannabis sativa L., is renowned for its ability to grow rapidly. In one growing season, fibre hemp can yield 250 to 400 plants per square metre, with each plant reaching up to 5 metres in height. As a result, hemp has been identified as a plant with the potential to serve as a phytoremediator.”
The same way hemp was used to clean up the toxins around Chernobyl, we should be using hemp to clean up the toxins from the Gulf of Mexico “oil spill” (more like a volcano) and other environmental crisis situations.
The McGraw-Hill Companies reported in 2000 “Overall, phytoremediation has great potential for cleaning up toxic metals, pesticides, solvents, gasoline, and explosives.”
“Why Use Phytoremediation? EPA uses phytoremediation for many reasons. It takes advantage of natural plant processes and requires less equipment and labor than other methods since plants do most of the work. Also, the site can be cleaned up without digging up and hauling soil or pumping groundwater, which saves energy. Trees and smaller plants used in phytoremediation help control soil erosion, make a site more attractive, reduce noise, and improve surrounding air quality. Phytoremediation has been successfully used at many sites, including at least 10 Superfund sites across the country”
“In the late 1990s industrial hemp was tested at the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine to help heal the soil. Because of the quick rate in which it grows, up to 250 to 400 plants (15t in height) per square meter, industrial hemp showed it could clean the land of contaminated pollutants like sewer sludge, fly ash, and other metals. In 1989, three years after the explosion, the Soviet government asked the International Atomic Energy Agency to assess the radiological and health situation in the area around the power plant. Toxic metals and radioactive emissions were contaminating the dirt, plants, and animals. Iodine, cesium-137, strontium, and plutonium were among some of the harmful toxins infesting nearly everything in the surrounding area.
A soil cleanup method was proposed using green plants to remove the toxins from the soil in a technique called phytoremediation. This was the term created by Dr. Ilya Raskin of Rutgers University. He was one of the original members of the team who was asked to examine food safety at the Chernobyl site. Phytoremediation is a process that takes advantage of the fact that green plants can extract and concentrate certain elements within their ecosystem. Some plants can grow in metal-laden soils, extract certain metals through their roots, and accumulate them in their tissues without being damaged. In this way, pollutants are either removed from the soil and groundwater or rendered harmless. This complex filtering system would prove to be effective in sucking out pollutants and leaving only the natural, fresh, soil. Much like a maggot might be used to clean a wound.
There are a handful of scientists, researchers, and companies funding efforts to test the different varieties of plants that can be used in this process to clean polluted soils, and make no mistake, industrial hemp is at the forefront.”
“As a proven, valuable tool in the fight to repair human-inflicted damage to our soils and ecosystems, hemp could potentially benefit hundreds of thousands of sites across the globe—it is estimated that in the USA alone there are 30,000 sites requiring remediation. As is so often the case, US restrictions on hemp cultivation preclude any large-scale operations from being implemented, and the contaminated sites are largely left unremediated, through lack of both funding and interest on the part of the government.”
[ The above link is down post Donald destroy the EPA Trump – here’s the page of phytoremediation papers as a result of a general search – http://www.usgs.gov/search/node/phytoremediation ]
Though not hemp specific it’s USGS take on phytoremediation
“Phytoremediation – “Phytoremediation uses plants to clean up pollution in the environment. Plants can help clean up many kinds of pollution including metals, pesticides, explosives, and oil. The plants also help prevent wind, rain, and groundwater from carrying pollution away from sites to other areas. Phytoremediation works best at sites with low to medium amounts of pollution. Plants remove harmful chemicals from the ground when their roots take in water and nutrients from polluted soil, streams, and groundwater … Once inside the plant, chemicals can be stored in the roots, stems, or leaves; changed into less harmful chemicals within the plant; or changed into gases that are released into the air as the plant transpires (breathes).” – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2001″
Abstract: “Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) was used to examine its capability as a renewable resource to decontaminate heavy metal polluted soils. The influence of heavy metals on the fibre quality was of special interest. Determination of heavy metal content was carried out by means of atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Four different parts of the plant were examined: seeds, leaves, fibres and hurds. In each case, the concentration relation was Ni and Pb and Cd [ Notation: Ni – Nickel greater than Pb – Lead, greater than Cd – Cadmium]. However, the heavy metal accumulation in the different parts of the plant was extremely different. All parts of hemp plants contain heavy metals and this is why their use as a commercially utilisable plant material is limited.
We found that the highest concentrations of all examined metals were accumulated in the leaves. In this field trial, hemp showed a phytoremediation potential of 126 g Cd (ha vegetation period)−1. We tested the fibre quality by measuring the pure fibre content of the stems and the fibre properties after mechanical separation. In addition, the fibre fineness was examined using airflow systems and image analysis. The strength was measured by testing single fibre bundles with a free clamping distance of 3.2 mm using a universal testing device. Finally, we compared the results from the stems and fibres from trials on heavy metal polluted ground with hemp stems and fibres from non-polluted ground. Since there was no comparable unpolluted area near the polluted one, reference values were taken from an area quite far away and subsequently with a different soil composition and also exposure to different meteorological conditions. Thus, the observed differences are only partially caused by the heavy metal contamination.”
We’re talking hemp, thistle, sunflowers and the ever powerful mushrooms, etc. to demonstrate how phytoremediation works, in this page in the context of absorbing heavy metals from the soil.
“The Use of Phytoremediation for Hydraulic Control of Contaminants
Plants can act as hydraulic pumps when their roots reach down toward the water table and establish a dense root mass that takes up large quantities of water. Poplar trees, for example, can transpire between 50 and 300 gallons of water per day out of the ground. The water consumption by the plants decreases the tendency of surface contaminants to move towards groundwater and into drinking water. The use of plants to rapidly uptake large volumes of water to contain or control the migration of subsurface water is known as hydraulic control. There are several applications that use plants for this purpose, such as riparian corridors/buffer strips and vegetative caps.”
“For Pb [lead], a major soil contaminant, no hyperaccumulator species has been identified. However, several species, such as hemp dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum), common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), nodding thistle (Carduus nutans), and Asiatic dayflower (Commelina communis), were shown to have superior Pb accumulating properties (Berti and Cunningham, 1993). Practices have been developed to increase the potential of common nonaccumulator plants for Pb phytoextraction. Particularly, the uptake-inducing properties of synthetic chelates open the possibility of using high biomass producing crops for Pb phytoextraction. Under chelate-induced conditions, maize (Huang and Cunningham, 1996) and Indian mustard (Blaylock et al., 1997) have been successfully used to remove Pb from solution culture and contaminated soil, respectively. Physical characteristics of soil contamination are also important for the selection of remediating plants. For example, for the remediation of surface-contaminated soils, shallow rooted species would be appropriate to use, whereas deep-rooted plants would be the choice for more profound contamination. ”
“Soil pollution caused by heavy metals is one of the major problems throughout the world. To maintain a safe and healthy environment for human beings, there is a dire need to identify hyperaccumulator plants and the underlying genes involved in heavy metals stress tolerance and accumulation. The goal of this research is to explore the potential of hemp as a decontaminator of heavy metals by identifying the two important heavy metals responsive genes, glutathione-disulfidereductase (GSR) and phospholipase D-α (PLDα).
The results revealed heavy metals accumulation; Cu (1530 mg kg−1), Cd (151 mg kg−1), and Ni (123 mg kg−1) in hemp plants’ leaves collected from the contaminated site. This shows the ability of the hemp plant to tolerate heavy metals, perhaps due to the presence of stress tolerance genes. In this study, partial sequences of putative GSR (215 bp) and PLDα (517 bp) genes were identified, responsive to heavy metals stress in hemp leaves. Both genes exhibited 40–60% sequence identity to previously reported genes from other plant species. Glutathione binding residues and conserved arginine residues were found identical in a putative GSR gene to those of other plant species, while the phospholipids binding domain and catalytic domain were found in the PLDα gene.
These results will help to improve our understanding about the phytoremediation potential of hemp as well as in manipulating GSR and PLDα genes in breeding programs to produce transgenic heavy-metals-tolerant varieties.”
“Industrial hemp cultivars, Zolo-11, USO-31 and Zolo-15, were tested for their ability to accumulate U and Pb in the above-ground biomass. Plants were grown in soils with an average content of U 336_1 mg/kg (OH), Pb 911_53 mg/kg (NJ), or Pb 571_86 mg/ (farm soil). Results demonstrated that hemp is potentially a good phytoremediation crop. This fast growing, high biomass crop grew normally in the Pb- or U-contaminated soil. Industrial hemp responded positively to Phytotech’s amendments and accumulated up to 5,447 mg/kg Pb and up to 560 mg/kg U from the soils that contained just 571 mg/kg Pb and 336 mg/kg U respectively. Cultivars of industrial hemp significantly differ in the ability to accumulate Pb and U, hence extensive screening may produce cultivars with better phytoremediation capacity.”
“Radiation Levels of the Bridgeton landfill will be controllable under certain circumstances as it relates to surface and subsurface soil properties.
Specifically the surface of the existing soil to a depth of 8 feet. This is also the area and depth of the soil contaminates that are causing all the health issues associated with nuclear waste that are plaguing the residents of the Bridgeton and Cold Water Creek region.”
“Daniel (Niels) van der Lelie, PhD, microbial ecology pioneer, is the senior director of the Center for Agricultural and Environmental Biotechnology at RTI International. Before joining RTI, van der Lelie spent nine years at Brookhaven National Laboratory, where he researched the development of new genomic tools to study the functioning of microorganisms and apply those findings to real-world problems such as pollution cleanup, biofuels as alternative energy, and the interactions between plants and their associated microorganisms.
Prior to Brookhaven, he worked as a research scientist at Transgène (Strasbourg), the Study Center for Nuclear Energy, and the Flemish Institute for Technological Research. Van der Lelie has written more than 130 publications and lectured nationally and internationally. He serves on the editorial boards for the International Journal of Phytoremediation and Microbial Biotechnology, and is a member of the American Society for Microbiology, Society for Industrial Microbiology, and International Phytotechnology Society.”
“Safety Recommendations • Longer vertical steel casing • Complete cement bond between casing and well along entire well depth • Proper encasement for the storage/disposal of drilling waste, flow-back fluids and produced water • Treatment for soil and ground water at polluted sites – Phytoremediation and bioremediation of organic pollutants – Modeling movement in groundwater • Establish federal and world law regarding the safe practices for the use of fracking • Disclosure of fracking fluid”
“REMEDIATION Once the land has been prepared for planting a wider variety of remediation plants may be grown to deal with the contamination. Various different processes occur within the plants to deal with the contaminants, and specific plants must be selected to appropriately deal with the various types of contamination.
Hemp’s a highly versatile crop which may be used in the phytoremediation process. The plants are not affected by pests so no pesticides are required, and they grow extremely fast smothering any competing weeds. In addition to the employment generated during the remediation process the hemp may also be harvested and used to generate new long term industries. The fibre yielded may be used for textiles, paper or as a low embodied energy building material and therefore employment opportunities can be created in the production, processing and manufacture of hemp based products such as housing, clothing and paper. The spin-off industries created should become economically sustainable helping to regenerate the wider area. Hemp branded products may command a premium using eco-friendly marketing to inflate their value and therefore ensure a position in the marketplace.”
Conclusions 1. The addition of anaerobic sewage sludge in high doses to pot experiments increased height one and a half and weight two-sevenfold of hemp. 2. At the conditions of heavy metals very low concentrations in the substratum, as at presented experiment the most heavy metals are [accumulated] in roots. The sorption of zinc and nickel at the greatest amount took place by root, copper at the greatest amount was accumulated in leaf. 3. The acquired results showed that it is advisable to dewater mesophilic anaerobic sewage sludge by fibrous hemp growing. The concentrations of Zn – 30 mg/dm3 , Cu – 5.6 mg/dm3 and Ni – 2.5 mg/dm3 mg/dm3 can be removed from soil-sludge substratum by fibrous hemp growing and did not cause a reduction of hemp height and weight.
“Abstract: Natural remediation is a general term that includes any technology or strategy that takes advantage of natural processes to restore a contaminated media to a condition that is protective of human health and the environment. Natural remediation techniques are often passive and minimally disruptive to the environment. They are generally implemented in conjunction with traditional remedial solutions for source control (i.e., capping, stabilization, removal, soil vapor extraction, etc.). Natural remediation techniques being employed at Savannah River Site (SRS) include enhanced bio-remediation, monitored natural attenuation, and phytoremediation.
Enhanced bio-remediation involves making nutrients available and conditions favorable for microbial growth. With proper precautions and feeding, the naturally existing microbes flourish and consume the contaminants. Case studies of enhanced bio-remediation include surface soils contaminated with PCBs and pesticides, and Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) contamination in both the vadose zone and groundwater.
Monitored natural attenuation (MNA) has been selected as the preferred alternative for groundwater clean up at several SRS waste units. Successful implementation of MNA has been based on demonstration that sources have been controlled, groundwater modeling that indicates that plumes will not expand or reach surface water discharge points at levels that exceed regulatory limits, and continued monitoring.
Phytoremediation is being successfully implemented at one SRS waste unit and considered for others. Phytoremediation involves using plants and vegetation to uptake or break down contaminants in groundwater or soils. Case studies at SRS include managing groundwater plumes of tritium and VOCs with pine trees that are native to the area. Significant decreases in tritium discharge to a site stream have been realized in one phytoremediation project. Studies of other vegetation types, methods of application, and other target contaminants are underway.”
This information is only a selection of the material that needs to be studied of the many ways hemp can help us reverse pollution and it’s effect of climate change and other environmental impacts.
Check out this blog for more information on how and why we must implement the hemp solution. Thank you for reading and sharing this material.
On October 21, “Before the Flood” was released to help spread awareness of the ‘dangers of climate change’ and was spearheaded by Leonardo DiCaprio who is the United Nation’s “Messenger of Peace” in relation to Climate Change.
The documentary follows the actor around the world illustrating how climate change is already showing symptoms on coastal cities and how certain industries are responsible for the accelerated pace of the destruction of our environment.
While you might believe in climate change or not, is besides the point. One thing that everyone can agree on is that our model of consumption and our habits of disposal requires a gigantic makeover because in laymen’s terms; “We’re fucking up the environment”.
If we reach the pinnacle of our environmental-fuckery, there will be severe consequences for all of us, regardless of race, religion, and geographical location.
While the documentary did outline a few things we could do to prevent an environmental death scenario,it failed (in my opinion) to address some of the most viable ways we could combat the erosion of our ecosystem.
Causing Factors of Environmental Decline
Depending on who you talk to, there are many people to “blame” for the current state of our environment. However, one of the clear culprits of this change falls heavily on the “Oil industry” who have been responsible for countless spills and emission of carbon around the world for nearly a century.
Secondly, the average consumer also takes up a portion of the “blame” what with driving their cars, consuming plastic products and discarding their waste without consideration on where it ends up.
However, one of the major causing factors of environmental damages that was NOT mentioned in the documentary is war. War and maintaining the war machine has long been a plague on our earth. The United States, with the biggest military force on the planet is largely ignored by climate activists despite the fact that the US military is one of the biggest polluters in the world.
At the outset of the Iraq war in March 2003, the Army estimated it would need more than 40 million gallons of gasoline for three weeks of combat, exceeding the total quantity used by all Allied forces in the four years of World War 1.
Not to mention that nearly half of the entire US budget goes to…you guessed it…WAR! And what are we fighting for? While the US government would like to convince the people that they are fighting for “peace, security and freedom”, following the money reveals another truth.
The US is largely fighting in the Middle East for Oil, Heroin and expanding their strategic military holdings on the world. The War on Terror is merely a smokescreen to maintain the illusion of military actions in the Middle East. And all of these actions cause an unmeasurable negative effect on our environment.
Other contributing factors to the decline of the environment include, mass production of livestock, the burning of forests for “palm oil” and of course the use of outdated energy methods.
So while I’m painting a dismal picture here, is there anything we can do about it?
Hemp the Fucking World!
I have said for a long time now that “Hemp is the Medical Cannabis for Earth”. It alarms me that climate activists aren’t jumping on the Hemp Train as a viable solution for cutting down our carbon emissions, stopping deforestation and creating environmentally sound industry that could reverse the damage we have already done.
Here’s a snippet of what hemp can achieve if we simply allowed it be utilized to its full potential. This is from HempBenefits.org:
Hemp is so Much Better for the Environment:
It replaces trees as the source of raw material for wood and paper, thereby conserving forests. Trees take years to grow, while a crop of hemp can be grown in a few months. Only one acre of hemp can produce as much paper annually as 4 acres of trees.
When burning hemp as a fuel, carbon dioxide is released into the air, but this is absorbed by the next crop, which can be harvested 120 days after planting. This quick growth avoids the build-up of carbon dioxide. Also, hemp is a very leafy plant and thus contributes a high level of oxygen to the atmosphere during its growth; between 20 and 40%. This makes up for the loss of oxygen when it is burnt as a fuel, which in turn, reduces unwanted effects of global warming, acid rain and the depletion in the ozone layer on the environment.
Air pollution is reduced since hemp is naturally resistant to pests and does not need pesticides and herbicides to be sprayed. Very little fertilizers are required, since it’s abundant leaves fall into the soil and release the required nutrients and minerals, thereby creating better soil tilth. Cotton and flax are known to consume 50% of all pesticides; hemp replaces cotton as a raw material in the manufacturing of paper and cloth, and flax fiber or seed for animal feed, animal bedding and paper.
Soil enrichment: The hemp crop grows dense and vigorously. Sunlight cannot penetrate the plants to reach the ground, and this means the crop is normally free of weeds. Its deep roots use ground water and reduce its salinity. Also, erosion of topsoil is limited, thereby reducing water pollution. The roots give nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil. After the harvest, this soil makes excellent compost amendments for other plants, and hemp cultivation can follow the rotation of agriculture with wheat or soybean. In fact, the same soil can be used to grow hemp for many years, without losing its high quality. The hemp plant absorbs toxic metals emitted by nuclear plants into the soil, such as copper, cadmium, lead and mercury.
Fabrics made of hemp do not have any chemical residue, and is therefore safer for consumers. Even if the fabric contains only 50% hemp, it can keep the UV rays of the sun from harming the skin underneath.
Conclusion
If you’re truly serious about climate change and environmental protection, you should be a staunch advocate of hemp. Along with moving towards renewable energy sources and reducing the war machine, we do stand a chance to reduce the emission of carbon into the environment and could reverse a lot of the damage we have already done.
In fact, Tesla predicts that we only need 100 Gigawatt factories (solar factories) to supply energy to the entire world. Therefore, instead of building that Pipeline in North Dakota, we could simply create solar farms and completely step out of the Oil game forever.
The point is, we have solutions…but waiting for the government to EVER do anything significant about it is like waiting for Gary Coleman to grow to six feet in length…it ain’t gonna happen.
Take charge, make change…stop waiting and force the hand of the government. It’s time we realize that to fix these problems will come down to us. So start advocating Hemp and push for reforms and STOP buying from brands that proliferate the current system of destruction.
The effects of climate change are being felt the world over. Strong hurricanes, famine, war, extreme heat waves, drought, and torrential rains are just some of the effects of global warming. In order to mitigate these effects, we need to start getting creative about finding alternatives to our lifestyle to reduce our carbon footprint.
This is where hemp enters… a magical plant with numerous practical uses. A plant that can even completely eliminate our dependency on fossil fuels, water, energy, and other resources that harm the planet (and us in the process)
There is so much potential for using hemp to promote sustainability, prevent deforestation, and save the lives of humans and animals:
1. Hemp has the potential to replace pretty much anything that’s made from timber.
Using hemp gives us the opportunity to save natural resources while leaving something behind for future generations. It takes anywhere from 20 up to 50 years for trees to be suitable for commercial harvest while it only takes around 4 months for hemp.
2. No other plant or tree in the world today can produce as much paper in each acre.
In 1916, it was reported by the US Department of Agriculture that just one acre of hemp can already provide just as much paper as 4 acres of trees each year but despite this deforestation remains a problem.
In addition, the paper and pulp industry in the world’s 5 th largest consumer of energy and it also uses more water to produce per product than other industries. Over 40% of logged trees are used to make paper, and almost half of these will end up in landfills. Using hemp as an alternative to make paper will reduce the demand on burdened waste disposal systems and will also reduce energy and water consumption.
3. Hemp paper is of better quality than paper made from wood.
Paper made from hemp can last many more years without degrading and can even be recycled more than tree-based paper. Making paper from hemp requires significantly less chemicals to manufacture too.
4. Fabric that is made from hemp doesn’t have any chemical residue which can cause irritation
or introduce harmful toxins to the body. Synthetic fabrics contain as much as 8,000 chemicals. Today manufacturers also add harmful toxins such as Teflon, formaldehyde, and flame retardants to name a few just to give clothing those special “wrinkle-free” properties. Clothing containing hemp is much safer and even those that contains just 50% of hemp can already prevent the harmful UV rays from reaching your skin.
5. Hemp is a sustainable biomass source for methanol.
Hemp can produce both ethanol and methanol from an environmentally-friendly procedure called thermo-chemical conversion. Hemp as fuel can replace fossil fuels which are not sustainable sources of energy and isn’t adequate enough to meet global fuel demands for a long time. Our dependence on fossil fuels has had major negative impacts on the environment, such as air pollution, oil spills, acid rain, and climate change to name a few.
6. Construction is another industry that can greatly benefit from hemp
instead of cutting down trees to use timber for homes and other buildings. Combining lime with hemp fiber can create insulated and soundproof material that is more durable and lighter than concrete. Reducing concrete and wood from construction sites will also reduce the overall waste matter. Homes that are built using hemp fibers are better insulated and will need to use less energy for heating.
7. Hemp is resistant to pests and because it doesn’t need pesticide and herbicides,
it doesn’t contribute to air pollution. A minimal amount of fertilizers is used in growing hemp since its nutritious leaves naturally fall to the soil and provide it with minerals and nutrients needed for healthy growth.
8. Growing hemp plants is good for soil health.
It grows aggressively and in very dense batches although sunlight is unable to penetrate the ground which means that there are less weeds. This also results in less topsoil erosion, which thereby decreases water pollution. Hemp plants are also capable of absorbing metals that are present in the soil but are actually toxic – these include mercury, lead, cadmium, and copper.
Hemp is 100% biodegradable and can be recycled
Hemp plastic is increasingly becoming a viable option as an eco-friendly alternative to carbon-based plastic. Not only is this bioplastic sourced from safe and sustainable hemp plants, but it is also typically both biodegradable and recyclable multipleimes even. Isn’t it about time we begin using more hemp products in our daily lives?
Could hemp be the plant that saves the planet? It is the best soil contaminant cleaner, and that includes radioactive waste.
By Matt Weeks. This story originally appeared on www.rxleaf.com
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 showed that hemp makes a particularly good phytoremediator thanks to several genetic perks:
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 come from some of the worst environmental disasters of the modern era. The nuclear accidents in Chernobyl, Ukraine and Fukushima, Japan have been going through a decades long detox thanks in large part to acres of hemp. 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.
By Matt Weeks. This story originally appeared on www.rxleaf.com
Scientists have for long wondered why the cannabinoids in hemp differ in quantity from those present in cannabis, yet these plants are genetically similar. Research was conducted to generate a chromosome map of cannabis sativa and the findings shed light on this important question.
The study brought to light the fact that the THC and CBD composition of hemp and cannabis was largely a product of mutations resulting from viruses that entered the chromosomes of the cannabis plant millions of years ago.
The result of that viral invasion at the genetic level was that cannabis split into two distinct variations, that is, hemp and cannabis. Hemp largely contains CBD while cannabis has varying amounts of CBD and THC, but cannabis has markedly higher THC levels than hemp.
The enzymes that triggered the production of the varying levels of CBD and THC in these two plants look identical at the genetic level, but they differ in genetic expression. Consequently, it is possible to extract one gene and leave the other, thereby growing a plant with only one of the major cannabinoids. For example, the THC gene can be removed so that plants with only CBD can be grown, and the same can be done to the CBD gene in cannabis.
The scientists thought that human selection was partly responsible for the wide prevalence of cannabis strains since, from ancient times, people have been known to propagate plants that gave them the desired output. Consequently, varieties that had balanced CBD and THC may have been ignored and left to disappear from the genetic pool while those with high THC were kept as our forefathers enjoyed the “high” derived from those varieties. Hemp survived this primitive form of selection because it had other uses, such as making rope from its tough fibers.
What does this research show the current crop of scientists? There is still so little known about cannabis. This information gap may not necessary be the fault of the scientific community, but it can be attributed to the decades of prohibition that made it nearly impossible to perform any meaningful research on cannabis.
Jonathan Page, one of the main researchers in this Canadian study, remarked that the legal walls are gradually collapsing, so scientists should take the lead in generating information about this versatile plant.
Outperforming standard supercapacitors up to 200 percent, hemp-based supercapacitors could be the future of green technology.
At the Ministry of Hemp, we’re a little biased about our favorite plant in the world: hemp. But it seems like everyday we find newer and better ways that it can be used.
One innovation we recently discovered? Scientists discovered how to use hemp in supercapacitor electrodes. A supercapacitor is the lesser-known alternative to traditional electrical energy storage. Right now, a supercapacitor is the second best option for storing power, after batteries. However, more research could change that.
Below we’ll introduce you to hemp supercapacitors and how hemp could play a part in our energy future.
WHAT’S A SUPERCAPACITY, ANYWAYS?
The most famous form of energy storage is the battery, an object that contains two opposing electrical terminals separated by electrolytes. When you turn on the power, a chemical reaction occurs between the electrolytes and electrodes, producing electric energy for your device. Since batteries rely on electrolyes, and electrolytes wear out, all batteries need to be replaced. In addition, batteries take a very long time to fully charge. Today, we use batteries everywhere; in our phones, laptops, and more recently, our cars.
Capacitors work very differently from the traditional battery. In short, a normal capacitor is comprised of two metal plates and an insulating material between the plates called a dielectric. In a capacitor, positive & negative build up on the plates. Rather than electrolytes, capacitors store electrical energy within the plates.
Supercapacitors on the other hand, are different for two ways. Their plates have a “bigger” surface area and the distance between the plates is much shorter. Supercapacitors are usually coated in a porous substance such as activated charcoal. These coatings are called the “supercapacitor electrodes.” The electrodes serve as more storage on the plates, giving them more surface area to store electricity. Think of normal non-coated capacitors as mops; which can only absorb so much water, and supercapacitors as sponges, soaking up much more water than its surface area. The website Explain That Stuff published a great explanation of supercapacitorsin August.
Unlike batteries, supercapacitors charge almost instantaneously and last much longer than batteries. Their biggest drawback, preventing them from being the popular choice, is the amount of energy that is able to be stored within them. Right now, supercapacitors only store a fraction of the power of a traditional battery, but scientists are working hard to find a way around this problem.
THE MIGHTY HEMP SUPERCAPACITOR
Today’s supercapacitors commonly use graphene, a carbon nanomaterial to create electrodes. But making graphene costs up to $2000 per gram.
In 2013, Researchers at the University of Alberta National Institute for Nanotechnology found a more economical material in hemp. These scientists discovered how to process raw hurds (the plant’s woody core) into activated carbons through hydrothermal processing and chemical activation. The final product is one that’s able to soak up more electricity, providing better energy capacity. The solution produces not only a cheaper material — $5000 per ton — but one that performs up to four times better than graphene. Better yet, the solution uses the hemp stems, the part that is often left unused during other forms of hemp processing. With this, the entire plant is used, and no part is left to waste!
If this solution can be easily reproduced, it would affect far more than just the electronics industries. Supercapacitors represent a fundamental shift in energy storage. Imagine if every battery powered object used hemp powered instead! It would mean that hemp would be undeniable in its utilitarian value. Remaining anti-hemp governments would be hard-pressed to keep the plant banned from commercial use.
Not only will consumer products change with legal hemp, but if hemp supercapacitors are adapted to a larger scale, we might see a shift in the infrastructure of the entire country. The possibilities for this greener, cleaner, and sustainable crop seem limitless! With legal hemp, countless industries stand to benefit.
Ellijah Pickering is a freelance writer based out of Michigan. He loves to write about music, sports, the cannabis industry, movies & television.
instead of cutting down trees to use timber for homes and other buildings. Combining lime with hemp fiber can create insulated and soundproof material that is more durable and lighter than concrete. Reducing concrete and wood from construction sites will also reduce the overall waste matter. Homes that are built using hemp fibers are better insulated and will need to use less energy for heating.
