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!”
Under the national hegemony dreamed of by leftists there would be no state laws.
OK, the article was about fuel - if you use the plant for fuel, you really can’t use it for rope. But of course, switchgrass does have a long fibrous stalk so you can make usable fibers from it. And there’s always cotton as well.
Switchgrass is a weed native to North America. It requires less water than hemp, and grows from the permafrost line in Canada down to the equator. It’ll grow anywhere, self-seeds the ground, and takes about 2 years to establish (after which you get regular harvests). Note that ALL grasses - including the cannabis family - need a year or two to get fully established before you start to harvest, so you can maximize return.
Seriously, hemp has a stigma attached to it. So why push for hemp when we have switchgrass which is as good, and does not have the stigma nor can even be used to refine to get THC? Hemp as a crop makes zero sense, other than the “cool” factor that some subcultures like.
Fighting for hemp in the face of comparable plants strikes me more as an argument for legalization of pot via acceptance of hemp (which can be grown in very strong varieties), rather than an honest search for a superior crop.
Make it poison ivy, and I’m a millionaire.
You make a very sound argument as far as using the switchgrass for fuel vs. other crops. I went and read a little about switchgrass after I posted to you, and it would make a LOT of sense to pursue this. As I said, I really don’t care what crop they pursue as long as they layoff the corn! :-)
You are correct; I assumed the author was part-baked and screwed up between methanol and ethanol. But methanol has about 85% of the energy of ethanol. So if this is in fact methanol from hemp, the it’s less efficient than switchgrass.
Cross pollination would take care of that notion in one or two growing cycles.
Having worked all over the Midwest building cellar systems, I can tell you first hand that there is still hemp growing all over the place. It's leftover from when farmers used to grow it as a primary crop before William Randolph Hurst had his way. Locals call it "ditch weed". Although I have no specific experience with "ditch weed", I'm told that you could smoke a garbage bag full of it and all you would get is a nasty headache....
Yeah, I see your point. It sorta like McCain running around calling himself a Conservative. Him doing so gives real Conservatives a bad name in the eyes of the uninformed.....
“...and the oil companies bought up all the rights to the pot-burning car which gets 100 miles to the dime bag!!! And the inventor of the bong-powered space ship was found dead, and all his blueprints were missing!”
Peeping Tom Accidentally Falls Off 10th Floor
Weird Asia News | 6/8/08
Posted on 06/08/2008 2:33:16 PM PDT by LibWhacker
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2028027/posts
Man jumps from plane with no parachute, dies
Yahoo! | Sat Jun 7, 7:51 PM ET
Posted on 06/07/2008 8:28:58 PM PDT by BenLurkin
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2027770/posts
Man jumps from plane with no parachute, dies
AP | 6-7-2008 | AP
Posted on 06/07/2008 11:02:20 PM PDT by Westlander
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2027809/posts
Alton attorney accidentally sues himself (Not Satire)
Madison County Record | 3/11/2005 | Steve Korris
Posted on 06/07/2008 8:38:02 PM PDT by Graybeard58
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2027773/posts
2 Teens In Trouble After Duct Taping Goose
WCCO.com | 6/3/08 | WCCO.com
Posted on 06/03/2008 7:40:47 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2025636/posts
‘Aliens’ Ogled My Teen Daughters!
(victim’s father wants to start new govt agency)
Yahoo News | May 31, 2008 | Benjamin Radford
Posted on 06/01/2008 10:14:42 AM PDT by Clintonfatigued
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2024440/posts
-elsewhere in alt-fuel news-
Man Forks Over $6G for Melon at Japanese Auction
AP via FoxNews | June 6, 2008
Posted on 06/06/2008 7:30:22 AM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2027053/posts
Black Japanese watermelon sold at record price
Yahoo.com | June 6, 2008 | Tomoko A. Hosaka
Posted on 06/08/2008 11:29:52 AM PDT by plain talk
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2027962/posts
Nobody’s going to go through the trouble of trying to convert hemp into smokable pot when they can get the real thing for cheaper.
Nobody’s going to go to the expense to buy smokable pot since they can grow it for free.
/sarcasm
BTTT
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