Posted on 06/07/2008 10:32:47 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
AMHERST, Massachusetts — With gas and oil prices at an all-time high, the alternative solution for residents throughout Amherst and the country for energy is hemp.
Gas prices recently broke the $3-a-gallon mark for the first time in the region, which has drivers and residents who rely on gas for their cars as well as oil for heat struggling. The thought of hemp production as a cheap alternative to oil and gas is appealing because it can be converted to “biomass” that is in turn converted to energy.
“Biomass can be converted to methane, methanol, or gasoline at a fraction of the current cost of oil, coal, or nuclear energy,” said Jack Herer, a longtime hemp activist and author of “The Emperor Wears No Clothes.”
In his book, Herer states, “Hemp stems are 80 percent hurds (pulp byproduct after the hemp fiber is removed from the plant). Hemps hurds are 77 percent cellulose - a primary chemical feed stock (industrial raw material) used in the production of chemicals, plastics and fibers ... an acre of full-grown hemp plants can provide from 50 to 100 times the cellulose found in cornstalks, kenaf, or sugar cane.”
Many people aren’t educated about hemp due to the illegal nature of its cultivation and its (strictly legal) association with marijuana. Bruce Montague, an employee of Amherst’s own Surner Heating Company, said in an interview last winter in response to the suggestion of using hemp energy, “I don’t think there’d be any benefit.”
According to Herer’s research, “Farming only six percent of the continental U.S. acreage with biomass [from hemp] crops would provide all of American’s gas and oil energy needs, ending dependence upon fossil fuels.” He added, “Each acre of hemp would yield 1,000 gallons of methanol. Fuels from hemp, along with the recycling of paper, etc., would be enough to run America virtually without oil.”
Herer explained the versatility of hemp by saying, “It can be grown in virtually any climate or soil condition on Earth, even marginal ones.”
Recent marijuana decriminalization laws in Amherst have lightened the penalties for possession of the plant. However, the association hemp has to the drug is possibly one of its biggest roadblocks towards legalization. With crystal methamphetamine presently the country’s largest drug problem, admitted by both state and local law enforcement agencies, the current administration is asking such agencies to focus their efforts on marijuana busts.
“Nearly half of state and local law-enforcement agencies identify ‘meth’ as their greatest drug threat, as more than 1 million Americans use the highly addictive drug, which is linked to violent crime, explosions and fires at ‘meth’ labs, severe health problems, and child and family abuse,” said Robert Dreyfuss in the Aug. 11 issue of Rolling Stone.
In a telephone interview with Herer, though he endured a stroke just a few years ago, was willing to discuss his views on “Big Energy.” He said, “All the energy companies bought up the coal rights and when gasoline runs out in our lifetime, within the next 40 years, these companies are going to feed us the coal substitute for the next 400 years!”
In other news, hippies are now huffing gasoline.
What in the world have they been smoking?
o.k. i know what a cornstalk is. i know what sugar cane looks like. but, what the heck is a kenaf?
(psst! if it's a tastless plant that you have to consume 10 times a day to fill your belly, i don't care).
;):)
The “hemp” guys crack me up. I was in Walmart today and saw some deoderant or something made out of hemp. They just won’t give it up. LOL!
Is there anything this miraculous, gift from God, plant can’t do?....hold it, what were we talking about?
haha! remember Up in Smoke? i’m sorry to say that i saw Cheech and Chong’s next movie about 20 times when i was in high school... it played again and again at this little theatre we used to hang out at... the employees were our classmates...
Each acre of hemp would yield 1,000 gallons of methanol.
The author needs to stop smoking the hemp! Because sugarcane yields 500 gallons per acre, and switchgrass yields 1000 gallons per acre, the same as hemp.
Someone's been toking a bit too much!
Hemp grows incredible fast...so I’ve heard.
Medicinal gasoline, you heartless statist!
Oh, good grief!!! Just give us ANWAR, will ya???? Geesh! This is all just so ridiculous! I had to change my tagline AGAIN!!!
One toke over the line Sweet Mary
One toke over the line,
Sittin’ downtown at the railway station
One toke over the line.
(Stupid hippies!)
Of course, many here will start claiming that you can get high off hemp. That’s why the US Government PAID farmers to grow it in WWII, I suppose...
It’s ridiculous that so many are so ill-informed when it comes to alternative fuels. There is NO reason to ban hemp and it’s many products including fuel. Instead we’ll raise food prices by developing more ethanol... Absolutely ridiculous...
Smoking pot...er, huffing hemp, leads to...ah, i forget.
I’ll never forget Cheech & Chong’s “Big Bambu” album (1972?) b/c it did a lot to popularize marijuana themes in my 8th grade class — it seemed like almost all of us were obsessed with C&C for awhile.
Also, the skit “Sister Mary Elephant” definitely helped to ruin the life of one of my 8th grade teachers, although I don’t know whether she ever knew that was the cause. A bunch of kids (NOT ME) were so obsessed with that skit that they began to pick on our most annoying teacher, who actually did kind of remind us of Sister Mary Elephant. Anyway, she was a nearly new teacher who was not good at controlling a classroom anyway..... lots of kids became more and more difficult acting out until she was reduced to screaming at us over and over and over again..... I think she just about had a breakdown before that year was over. I was super-shy at that age and never said a word, I just observed all this madness going on around me in this 8th grade math class that was reduced to very little learning and lots of emotional outbursts from the teacher. Very sad, very strange. I still blame Cheech and Chongs’ “Sister Mary Elephant” as the perverse inspiration for that mess.
“CLAAASS, CLAAAAASSSS, SHUD-UP!!!!....... thank you”
Dude, where’s my car?
It really is. Every time a thread like this comes up the amount of ignorance that is displayed here is stunning. Hemp is one of those things that helped build this country. Look around, you'll see towns like Hempville, Hemp Hill, Hemptown, etc. Hemp was so thoroughly a part of the early years of this nation BECAUSE it was so useful. Early settlers made clothing, rope, paper, cattle feed, oil for lamps, all from hemp. The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and many other early documents are made from hemp paper, which, btw, is superior to pulp paper in every conceivable way.
All these folks here that are confusing hemp with the version of the plant the druggies like really show how utterly ignorant they really are. There are many here who really should do some research before they open their mouths and remove all doubt......
While I don’t doubt the truth of what you are saying, it doesn’t help things when the main spokesmen for hemp products are Woody Harrelson types. It makes me think they hope that they can sneak their variety in fields and mix it with the industrial type.
Also, some of the rhetoric on behalf of hemp is overblown (cures cancer, doubles the gdp, etc.) I am only exaggerating slightly.
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