by Rossella Lorenzi | Dec 16, 2018
A mixture of cannabis, clay and lime proved to be key in helping preserve
the 1,500-year-old World Heritage site.
Buddhist monks who prayed in India’s Ellora Caves were surrounded by hemp, as plaster covering the shrines’ painted walls and ceilings was made of a mixture of cannabis, clay and lime, a new study has revealed.
The earthen mix turned out to be a blessing, since the cannabis played a key role in preserving the World Heritage site.
According to Manager Rajdeo Singh, an archaeological chemist of the Archaeological Survey of India’s science branch (western region), and Milind M. Sardesai, who teaches botany at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, the mixture prevented the plaster from degrading for over 1,500 years.
“Ellora has proved that only 10 percent of cannabis mixed with clay or lime in the plaster could last for over 1,500 years,” Singh told The Times of India.
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The Ellora caves were built between the 6th and 11th centuries, A.D. in the western state of Maharashtra. They are made up of a group of 34 temples carved out of stone and are dedicated to the three main religions of India – Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism.
The structure runs in a north–south direction for about 1.2 miles. At the southern end are 12 Buddhist caves, in the north are six Jain caves and in between lie 17 Brahmanical caves.
“The caves are breathtaking examples of rock-cut architecture that stands testimony to the imagination and artistry of its creators,” Singh and Sardesai wrote in the journal Current Science.
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They analyzed the clay plaster of Buddhist cave no. 12, a remarkable three-storied building.
Using a scanning electron microscope, infrared spectroscopy and stereomicroscopic studies, the researchers were able to isolate specimens of cannabis from the clay plaster.
The remains of cannabis, popularly known as ganja or bhang in India, suggest that it was used in the clay and lime mixture mainly as an insulating agent and to provide added strength to the plaster.
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“The cannabis fiber appears to have a better quality and durability than other fibers. Moreover, the cannabis’ gum and sticky properties might have helped clay and lime to form a firm binder,” Sardesai told Discovery News.
Called hempcrete, the concrete-like substance used for plastering provided “a healthy, comfortable and aesthetically pleasing living environment to the Buddhist monks to stay,” the researchers said.
“As the hemp plaster has the ability to store heat, is fire-resistant and absorbs about 90 percent of airborne sound, a peaceful living environment for the monks has been created at Ellora Caves,” they added.
This House is made of HempCrete
Imagine you had a building material that was energy-efficient, non-toxic and resistant to mold, insects and fire. The material may even have a higher R-v
Studies in Europe have estimated that hempcrete can last 600–800 years. In the Ellora caves the life span doubled despite damaging environmental factors, such as a growing humidity inside the caves during rainy seasons.
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by Steve Hanley | Nov 28, 2018
Researchers at the University of Alberta’s National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) have discovered that hemp based electrodes for supercapacitors outperform standard supercapacitors by nearly 200%. At present, the preferred material for making electrodes is graphene. Electrodes are what connect an electrical storage medium to the outside world. Some materials can handle high current applications and others allow quick access times. Graphene does both.
There is one drawback, however. Graphene costs about $2,000 per gram. Looking for a less costly solution, researchers at NINT, led by chemical and materials engineering Professor David Mitlin, developed a process for converting fibrous hemp waste into a unique graphene-like nanomaterial that outperforms graphene. What’s more, Hemp can be manufactured for less than $500 per ton. “Our work actually opens up a very cheap and mass-producible manufacturing method for graphene quality material — something that has never been achieved before,” says Mitlin.
Carbon is the primary component of most electrodes. Whether it is activated carbon, templated carbon, carbon nanofibers, carbon nanotubes, or graphene, all have been intensively studied as materials for supercapacitor electrodes. Many are expensive to manufacture. They also have limited power characteristics.
“It is becoming well understood that the key to achieving high power in porous electrodes is to reduce the ion transport limitations” says Mitlin. “Nanomaterials based on graphene and their hybrids have emerged as a new class of promising high-rate electrode candidates. They are, however, too expensive to manufacture compared to activated carbons derived from pyrolysis of agricultural wastes, or from the coking operations.”
Mitlin decided to test hemp bast fiber’s unique cellular structure to see if it could produce graphene-like carbon nanosheets. Hemp fiber waste was heated under pressure at 180 °C for 24 hours. The resulting carbonized material was treated with potassium hydroxide and then heated to temperatures as high as 800 °C, resulting in the formation of uniquely structured nanosheets. Testing of this material revealed that it discharged 49 kW of power per kg of material — nearly triple what standard commercial electrodes supply, 17 kW/kg.
“The resultant graphene-like nanosheets possess fundamentally different properties, such as pore size distribution, physical interconnectedness, and electrical conductivity—as compared to conventional biomass-derived activated carbons,” Mitlin tells the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
“We were delighted at how well this material performed as supercapacitor electrodes,” says Mitlin. “This novel precursor-synthesis route presents a great potential for facile large-scale production of high-performance carbons for a variety of diverse applications including energy storage, portable electronics, uninterruptible power sources, medical devices, load leveling, and hybrid electric vehicles.”
This breakthrough, if it an be commercialized successfully, could be a significant factor in reducing the cost of electric vehicles and energy storage systems.
by HempingtonPost | Nov 11, 2018
Greeting, hola and aloha, welcome to the world of all things, Hemp!
Who the ‘HEMP’ are WE?
We are passionate about what’s possible…
HempingtonPost is created to be a leading edge portal for those seeking the truth, justice and a life of complete human-rights. We are here to assist in recreating a healthy life-experience of wellness, sustainability and economics while embracing the world of Hemp/Cannabis and all it can provide for our lives.
As you may know, the Hemp industry is evolving to a new epic paradigm which will enrich our world for generations to come! We, at HempingtonPost are here to investigate, present, promote and propel all things for the growth and development of this Hemp Industry.
Our primary focus is to research & disseminate trusted Hemp News, Views & Education. We have excellent media relationships, nationally & internationally, with some of the top Hemp Organizations in the world. We report and commentate on what’s happening in the world of Hemp, as we get it. From Hemp’s history, watch this, to the what’s happening now with major events, political actions to take, Bills being passed, events to attend and support for those Hemp Products leading the way in America. The Hemp world is emerging like a sleeping giant waking up…As we look forward to our future, Hemp’s looking super bright!
Questions? What is Hemp if it’s not its cousin, Marijuana? What Hemp products are now available to us in the US, what trusted Hemp products are made in America? What hemp products are available globally? The list is endless. Where are the investments opportunities? What are the benefits of Hemp? They are vast and deep, from Superfoods to CBD, Hemp Oil, Clothing, Textiles, Building Materials, Graphite, Automotive, Bio-Fuel, Animal Feed, Wellness & Bedding to name a few. Who in the world is working with and making major discoveries with Hemp? You will be astonished to learn what’s happening nationally and globally.
For many of you, Hemp is a whole new world. Welcome! For others, this is a long path we’ve been on, knowing and keeping our sights set on the bigger game while not walking away. Now, finally, Hemp is happening! Merry Merry and Amazing Grace!
Hemp’s future is game-changing!
If ever a time to jump into a movement that can (and is) IMPACTING OUR WORLD, this is that time! Our time on this planet is invaluable and limited… I feel deeply that each of us has something to contribute… HEMP can change our world with new economics and environmental sustainability. Hemp may be the industry that calls on you. You never know until you become open to new possibilities and opportunities!
We are either a part of the Problem or part of the Solution!
It’s more fulfilling to be a part of the solution. Standing on the sidelines talking about what isn’s working, doesn’t work. We are looking for Game Changers in this industry, there’s opportunities everywhere and a hell of a lot to do if we want to create a greater more sustainable world for our generations to come!
In closing we’d like to say, we live in very unstable times and it’s been a heck of a transformational year, next year is not going to slow down, it’s Game ON… So, We wish you the warmest of heart-filled holidaze, be grateful for all that is right now and the possibilities we can bring to our future tomorrows!
BTW – Do you know we have an endocannabinoid system? Right, check it out, who knew? Cannabinoids feed Cannabinoid receptors and are shown to balance our endocrine/immune system? Shouldn’t we have known this…? This is our body, our life, wtw?
AT HempingtonPost.com You’ll find blogs, news stories, hemp events, products and videos regarding the emerging Hemp Industry. Subscribe Now!
With Warm Regards, May the Source Be With Us – Darlene Mea & the HempingtonPost team
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by HempingtonPost | Oct 17, 2018
Approved by Governor September 30, 2018. Filed with Secretary of State on September 30, 2018.
We want to believe this is going to create progress for Hemp farming in Calif. According to Bruce Perlowin of Hemp Inc. Hemp Inc applauds California’s commitment to agriculture, industrial hemp specifically, with the passing of SB 1409. The new bill, which will go into effect on January 1, 2019, removes the previous requirement that industrial hemp seed cultivators be certified on or before January 1, 2013, finally opening the door for new cultivators to enter the market.
This will “unleash a dramatic expansion of hemp farming and hemp businesses” in the nation’s largest state and as a global leader in the industrial hemp industry, with the largest multipurpose industrial hemp processing facility in the western hemisphere, Hemp, Inc. stands to gain an enormous amount of business opportunities in the Golden State. “This Bill will finally allow farmers in California to partake in this lucrative industry on a broad scale and I applaud Governor Jerry Brown for taking the proactive steps necessary to facilitate the growth of California’s industrial hemp industry,” said Hemp, Inc. CEO, Bruce Perlowin.
“The immense opportunity represented by the state’s world-class economy combined with its ideal growing conditions is sure to convince many farmers to switch to hemp. Our new west-coast hemp processing facility in Medford, Oregon, stands to be an excellent resource for all of the new farmers entering the industry as laws continue to evolve. We are also continuing to scout new locations across the country to open additional hemp processing centers.”
Under the bill, “industrial hemp” would no longer be defined in the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act as a fiber or oilseed crop. The bill would delete the requirement that industrial hemp be grown as a densely planted fiber or oilseed crop. By modifying the characterization of a crop for which AUMA sets a minimum acreage, the bill would amend AUMA. The bill would also delete the requirement that an application for registration includes information about whether a seed cultivar is being grown for its grain or fiber, or as a dual purpose crop.
Read the full legislation in the Legislative Counsel’s Digest
by HempingtonPost | Feb 6, 2018
The Cover photo from Harmless Home of hempcrete blocks for a home project in British Columbia. The woody fibers of the cannabis plant — it grows from seed to harvest in about four months — when mixed with lime produces a natural, light concrete that retains thermal mass and is highly insulating.
By Adam Popescu, New York Times News Service – 
Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018 | 2 a.m.
The Romans have been using it since the days of Julius Caesar, but not to get high. Both Washington and Jefferson grew it.
Now that several states have legalized the use of marijuana for some recreational and medical purposes, one of the biggest untapped markets for the cannabis plant itself — at least one variety — could be as a building tool.
The most sustainable building material is not concrete or steel — it is fast-growing hemp. Hemp structures date to Roman times. A hemp mortar bridge was constructed back in the 6th century, when France was still Gaul.
Now a wave of builders and botanists are working to renew this market. Mixing hemp’s woody fibers with lime produces a natural, light concrete that retains thermal mass and is highly insulating. No pests, no mold, good acoustics, low humidity, no pesticide. It grows from seed to harvest in about four months.
A strain of the ubiquitous Cannabis sativa, the slender hemp plant is truly weedlike in its ability to flourish in a wide variety of climates, growing as high as 15 feet and nearly an inch in diameter. The plant’s inner layer, the pith, is surrounded by a woody core called the hurd. This is the source of the tough fiber, which can be used for rope, sails and paper.
Hemp is typically planted in March and May in northern climes, or between September and November below the equator. Once cut, usually by hand, plants are left to dry for a few days before they’re bundled and dumped into vats of water, which swells the stalks. Those dried fibers are then blended for a variety of uses, such as adding lime. This creates blocklike bricks known as hempcrete.
Industrial hemp contains a mere 0.3 percent of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the substance responsible for the buzz when smoking weed. The cannabis present at a reggae fest, for instance, contains as much as 20 percent.
The two strains look different, too. Hemp’s sativa is taller; the shorter indica has resiny trichomes accounting for its psychoactive power. The rule goes: the better the budding flower, the poorer the hemp.
Also unlike pot, you cannot grow hemp in an indoor hydroponics setup; the plant’s deep roots need to spread, so outdoor cultivation is required. The plant’s seeds and leaves can be eaten raw, dried into powder or pressed into oils.
Getting a mature plant in just a few months — with less fertilizer than needed for industrial crops like corn, and without chemical fertilizers or bug sprays — makes the potential for profit huge. As hemp taps water underground, its long roots circulate air, which improves soil quality — another boon for farmers looking to rotate crops.
Battling the plant’s powerful drug connotation might be the toughest hurdle for farmers and builders and is possibly a more formidable obstacle during the Trump administration.
The plant is still highly regulated.
This January, though, California legalized use of the plant in full. And the federal farm legislation of 2014 legalized hemp’s cultivation for research purposes in universities in states where it has been approved by law. New York now funds a research initiative for as much as $10 million in grants toward hemp businesses, with participation in the pilot program from institutions that include Cornell University.
Still, in the United States, special permits are needed to build with hemp, and the requirements can vary by county and state. The first modern hemp house was constructed in 2010, in North Carolina. There are now about 50 such homes in the country.
But not much hemp is grown here; a little less than 10,000 acres so far, enough for about 5,000 single-family homes. Cultivated acreage in Canada is double that, and in China’s Yunnan province, 10,000 farmers grow it. Roughly 30 nations now produce hemp, including Spain, Austria, Russia and Australia.
Hemp was rediscovered in the 1980s across Europe, where cultivation is legal, and France has become the European Union’s largest hemp producer. Hundreds of buildings across the continent use the substance as insulation to fill walls and roofs, and under floors in wood-framed buildings.
Manufacturers say it is ideal for low-rise construction, a product that is stuccolike in appearance and toxin-free. Its promoters also boast that it has a lower carbon footprint, requiring three times less heat to create than standard limestone concrete.
More like drywall than concrete, hempcrete cannot be used for a foundation or structure; it is an insulation that needs to breathe, said Joy Beckerman, a hemp law specialist and vice president of the Hemp Industries Association, a trade group.
Hemp should not be used at ground level, or it loses its resistance to mold and rot. Lime plaster coatings or magnesium oxide boards have to be applied to anything touching hempcrete, or the lime will calcify it and lose its ability to absorb and release water.
While that sounds like a lot of work, Beckerman pointed to the long-term payoff.
“In many climates, a 12-foot hempcrete wall will facilitate approximately 60-degrees indoor temperatures year-around without heating or cooling systems,” she said. “The overall environmental footprint is dramatically lower than traditional construction.”
There still are not international standards for building with hemp, or codes regulating how it should be used structurally or safely. ASTM International, a technical standards organization, formed a committee to address this in 2017.
Nonetheless, the use of hempcrete is spreading. A Washington state company is retrofitting homes with it. Left Hand Hemp in Denver completed the first permitted structure in Colorado last year. There’s Hempire in Ukraine, Inno-Ventures in Nepal. Israel’s first hemp house was constructed in March on the slopes of Mount Carmel.
Down south, New Zealanders turned 500 bales of Dutch hemp into a property that fetched around $650,000. In Britain, HAB Housing built five homes with hempcrete last year. Canada’s JustBioFiber recently completed a house on Vancouver Island with an interlocking internal framed hemp-block inspired by Legos.
It is a niche but growing sector of the cannabis market. In 2015, the Hemp Industries Association estimated the retail market at $573 million in the United States.
“When I started Hempitecture in 2013 and presented the concept, venture capitalists laughed at the idea,” said Matthew Mead, the founder of Hempitecture, a construction firm in Washington. “Now there are over 25 states with pro-hemp amendments and legislation, and the federal farm bill has its own provision supporting the development of research toward industrial hemp.”
One major issue is cultivation. Although it has been legal to grow hemp in Canada since 1998, farmers need to apply for licenses. In Australia, industrial hemp agriculture has been legal for more than 20 years.
In the United States, a provision in the farm bill removed hemp grown for “research purposes” from the Controlled Substances Act. Farmers and researchers in more than a dozen states can now import hemp seeds. The Industrial Hemp Farming Act, pending in the House for the seventh time, would exempt hemp plants in toto from the controlled substance designation, an Olympic leap toward a burgeoning agro-business.
Much like the “pot-repreneurs” who set up marijuana dispensaries a decade ago, before laws were definitive, a generation is pushing ahead despite uncertainties.
Sergiy Kovalenkov, 33, a Ukrainian civil engineer who spent the last three years building hemp structures and consulting on projects in Ukraine, France, Sweden and Jamaica, is beginning a project in California. The hardest steps, Kovalenkov said, are paperwork, permits and seeds.
“Building codes vary from state to state, with regulations in terms of fire and seismic activities,” he said. “If we’re talking sustainable product, seeds cannot come from Poland or France. It has to come from California.”
Only one facility in the United States processes hemp stocks, in North Carolina. Kovalenkov’s firm, Hempire USA, has also devised its own fiber separation system. “The demand is going to be quite big in the next three to five years,” Kovalenkov said.
But what does a hemp house smell like?
“It smells like comfort,” Kovalenkov said, laughing. “It smells a little like lime. We’re using the stock. You cannot smell cannabis — it has nothing to do with smoking weed or cannabis plants. It’s an industrial agriculture crop.”
In October, representatives from 14 countries attended the seventh annual Hemp Building Symposium at the International Hemp Building Association in Quebec. Terry Radford, the president of JustBioFiber Structural Solutions, an IT-pro-turned-tinkerer, unveiled a prefab hemp composite that could be more attractive to city planners and government building code officials.
“The problem with hempcrete right now,” he said, “is each one has to be inspected and have an exemption from the building code. It’s difficult for builders to get approved. If you’re trying to get a mortgage on your house, it’s pretty restrictive. That’s our biggest challenge.”
“Our idea is to get the material certified by building coders, rather than have each one approved,” he added. “The difference between hempcrete and my block product is that we’re a structural product. Hempcrete by itself is just an insulation.” The startup is preparing to produce a 112,000-square-foot facility in British Columbia.
Mead, the head of Hempitecture, echoes the concerns of others. For farmers to expand, he said, the infrastructure has to be there. Without a network to process materials, “it will be difficult for farmers to know if they can grow this crop and turn a profit.”
HempingtonPost.com is a media source presenting the most current & trusted Global HEMP/Cannabis Information
Reposted from the Las Vegas SUN – HarmlessHome & the New York TIMES
