Firstly I would like to apologise for getting some of you a little excited with my title. I am referring of cause to the non toxic variety, however, as I work in marketing I just couldn't help myself .

Anyhow, I recall watching a video (possibly called "The Hemp Revolution", or something like that) in the mid nineties about all the fantastic uses for hemp. One use was in its great ability to produce ethanol with very little input cost, especially non use of pesticides.

Can anyone update me on what is happening in this industry, I know that some permits were given to grow test crops but haven't heard anything since. Is hemp still a viable solution and if so how does it rate against other ethanol cropping options?

cheers
Fuel'in
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Hi Feel in Good,
I did a post on hemp a while back.
Industrial hemp has a huge potential.Not only for the oil but for bio mass,clothing heaps and heaps of application.Look at what is happening in the hemp Industry in Canada.It is indeed a revolution.
But if you thinking of doing it in oz ....forget it.To hard.Yes mate,you have to buy certain seeds which is sold by the govt and aren't very high yeilding ...bla bla bla.

Cheers
Sauman

Thanks Sauman, quite possibly an oil company influenced govt decision. Unfortunately the govt (both of them!) will learn the error of their ways when it is too late and the commons will suffer while they ride it out on some island in the pacific with plenty of coconuts!!! However this is the result of a stupid majority of people that vote for their immediate selfish short term gains in mind (human nature unfortunately). I think maybe the piper could be returning to Hamlin to collect.

Alright I'll get of the soap box now.

Fuel'in.

HI Folks
Just for Knowledge
HEMP FACTS

1) Hemp is among the oldest industries on the planet, going back more than 10,000 years to the beginnings of pottery. The Columbia History of the World states that the oldest relic of human industry is a bit of hemp fabric dating back to approximately 8,000 BC.
2) Presidents Washington and Jefferson both grew hemp. Americans were legally bound to grow hemp during the Colonial Era and Early Republic. The federal government subsidized hemp during the Second World War and US farmers grew about a million acres of hemp as part of that program.
3) Hemp Seed is far more nutritious than even soybean, contains more essential fatty acids than any other source, is second only to soybeans in complete protein (but is more digestible by humans), is high in B-vitamins, and is 35% dietary fiber. Hemp seed is not psychoactive and cannot be used as a drug. See TestPledge.com
4) The bark of the hemp stalk contains bast fibers which are among the Earth's longest natural soft fibers and are also rich in cellulose; the cellulose and hemi-cellulose in its inner woody core are called hurds. Hemp stalk is not psychoactive. Hemp fiber is longer, stronger, more absorbent and more insulative than cotton fiber.
5) According to the Department of Energy, hemp as a biomass fuel producer requires the least specialized growing and processing procedures of all hemp products. The hydrocarbons in hemp can be processed into a wide range of biomass energy sources, from fuel pellets to liquid fuels and gas. Development of biofuels could significantly reduce our consumption of fossil fuels and nuclear power.
6) Hemp grows well without herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides. Almost half of the agricultural chemicals used on US crops are applied to cotton.
7) Hemp produces more pulp per acre than timber on a sustainable basis, and can be used for every quality of paper. Hemp paper manufacturing can reduce wastewater contamination. Hemp's low lignin content reduces the need for acids used in pulping, and it's creamy color lends itself to environmentally friendly bleaching instead of harsh chlorine compounds. Less bleaching results in less dioxin and fewer chemical byproducts.
8) Hemp fiber paper resists decomposition, and does not yellow with age when an acid-free process is used. Hemp paper more than 1,500 years old has been found. It can also be recycled more times.
9) Hemp fiberboard produced by Washington State University was found to be twice as strong as wood-based fiberboard.
10) Eco-friendly hemp can replace most toxic petrochemical products. Research is being done to use hemp in manufacturing biodegradable plastic products: plant-based cellophane, recycled plastic mixed with hemp for injection-molded products, and resins made from the oil, to name just a very few examples.

TODAY'S HEMP INDUSTRY

My wife loves to use hemp fabric nappies on our little one and swears by it. Highly absorbent, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial. She is nearly as passionate about modern cloth nappies (as opposed to disposable ones) as I am about biodiesel
Now, I just have to find a process to convert hemp wrapped baby poo to biodiesel....

__________________
Robert Fyvie
Site Admin
Sydney Biodiesel Users' Group and Australian Biofuel Users


......................................................
2007 Mazda 6 Diesel ..................................2000 Peugeot 306..........................2001 Landrover (retired)
2L Turbo charged (Common Rail) ...................XTdt 1.9L Turbo ............................Freelander TD4 (Common Rail)
on B100.................................................. ...on B100.......................................on B100

If u have enough baby poo, then you can use the poo as compost,which in turn can be used as fertilizer,which in turn will act as organic nutrients for plants,which in turn produces oil,which then produces Bio Diesel.(Your passion taken care off).
With Johny boys baby boomer incentives on the table for talking......do I need to do the whole rant .....leave you to it legend.

Cheers
Sauman

Thanks Sauman, the info you have provided is great and extremely interesting. However, I still have the following question. Biofuel from Hemp? Is hemp a standout crop for production of bio fuel. Does the plant itself standout for ethanol production and is the seed oil a standout for biodiesel product (above soybean)? If the answer is yes, what data is there to support this?

cheers
Fuelin

Sauman,
Do old hippies ever die? or is this a resurgence of the 60's movement
Just by the way there is a chap in SA that has been growing hemp for a few years now
He is feeding the seed produced to Cape Barren geese that he grows for the game market
He is known to have said that it provides these birds with the best nutrition that he has tried
Everything you posted in so far as the plant is concerned, is of course correct
The plant is widely grown in Greece as well for caged bird food on which these little guys as well as the larger ones thrive
As a bit of diversion, Herodotus the first travel writer refers to hemp seeds in his history as far back as 430 BC
He refers to Summerians heating flat stones on the ground within a tent, when the stones reach a certain temperature the seed of hemp where thrown upon the heated stones once the charcoal from the fire was removed
They then stood or sat around inhaling the fumes emanating from the seeds which of course gave them a "good feeling "
Herodotus suggests that they then acted in a similar fashion as the ancient Greeks did when they consumed wine to excess
Go figure
Yes there are varieties of hemp available here in Australia without the magic stuff in them, the Alkaloids which one can grow commercially
A note of warning though
It is a weed in some states, I think in QLD, and some parts of NSW, the end result of certain citizens throwing the seeds around the place ultimately going around some time later harvesting the plants so as to "hand them in" to the authorities
Go figure again
A good plant for biodiesel production nonetheless
Finally the best instruction book ever printed as to the cultivation of the
plant was put out by the USDA during the second world war, so as to assure the US navy of raw material for the manufacture of rope
The end result of the Japanese army having taken over most of the sources of hemp around the Pacific as well as the Indian ocean
It was available up until a few years ago for the sum of $3.00 US of course post paid
Now every one out there let us know when you are planting this marvel
you may have the wrong seeds
Some of us may be able to give you an unbiased opinion
Rope also has an interesting connection with the settlement of this country
Sir Joseph Banks the guy that Banksias are named after suggested to the British authorities that the load of convicts destined for the East coast of Africa a bit above the Cape colony should be send to Botany bay instead
The idea was that since most of the rope material used originated from Russia supplies for the British navy were doubtful as the Ruskies were at war with someone allied to the British
So the "first fleet" was ultimately diverted to Botany Bay and the first seeds ever planted in this country where Maize, Flax, another source of rope fibres as well as Hemp
It did not work so they decided to try another area
This was Norfolk Island where both plants thrived with favourable results relayed back to England
By that time the war with the Ruskies was over rope fibre supplies having been restored interest in both plants lessened somewhat but both where grown for local use
Flax or as commonly known as linseed is also a good oil producer
So here we are another bit of trivia for all interested in a bit of history
This of course is a forum for Biodiesel as well as renewable fuels, said who?
Cheers
Chris

[quote=Chris]Sauman,
Do old hippies ever die? said who?

A Hippe never dies,never ages >Just gets wiser<Timeless travel

Just for Info
Hemp's Demise


TimeEvent



The earliest known woven fabric was made from wild hemp was carbon dated to this era. (Information obtained from Jack Herer's book The Emperor Wears No Clothes. 1995, pg. 2. Where he quotes The Columbia History of the World, 1981, pg. 54)



Cannabis hemp was the world largest grown cash crop. It was used to make fabric, lighting oil, paper, incense, medicines, and food. (1)



Pipes wrapped in hemp cloth containing cannabis residue were discovered in the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley buried with Hopewell Mound Builders. (1)



In James town Colony, Virginia farmers were ordered by law to grow Indian Hemp. (1)1631 A. D. - early 1800'sIn most colonies of America cannabis hemp was legal tender (money) through out this time period. You could even pay your taxes with hemp for over 200 years. (1)



In Massachusetts farmers were ordered by law to grow Indian Hemp. (1)



In Connecticut farmers were ordered by law to grow Indian Hemp. (1)



In Virginia you could be jailed, if you were a farmer, for not growing hemp during times of shortage. (1)

In 1824, domestic hemp was pitted against Russian hemp by rigging the USS Constitution on one side with American and the other with Russian grown hemp, 'and after being thus worn for nearly a year, it was found, on examination, that the Russian rope, in every instance, after being much worn, looked better and wore more equally and evenly than the American.' But the commander said, 'the difference between them was not so great as to warrant a declaration that the proof was conclusive in favor of the Russian....'"


Dodge, C. A. 1896. A report on the culture of hemp and jute in the United States. USDA Office of Fiber Investigations. Report No. 8. p.15.

The U.S. census counted 8,327 hemp plantations that had at least 2000 acres of


land or more. (1)

Several [varieties of hemp] are grown in this country, that cultivated in Kentucky and having a hollow stem, being the most common. China hemp, with slender stems, growing very erect, has a wide range of culture. Smyrna hemp is adapted to cultivation over a still wider range and Japanese hemp is beginning to be cultivated, particularly in California, where it reaches a height of 15 feet. Russian and Italian seed have been experimented with, but the former produces a short stalk, while the latter only grows to a medium height. A small quantity of Piedmontese hemp seed from Italy was distributed by the Department in 1893, having been received through the Chicago Exposition...."


Dodge, C. A. 1896. A report on the culture of hemp and jute in the United States. USDA Office of Fiber Investigations. Report No. 8. p.7.

A variety of marijuana and hashish extracts were the first, second, and third most


prescribed medicines in the United States. (1)

W. H. Holmes an ethnologist for the Smithsonian Institute recovers a large piece of
hemp fabric buried with a man at an archeological dig in Morgan County,


Tennessee. (2)

"In Nebraska, where the [hemp] industry is being established, a new and important step has been taken in cutting the crop with an ordinary mowing machine. A simple attachment which bends the stalks over in the direction in which the machine is going facilitates the cutting... The cost of cutting hemp in this manner is 50 cents per acre, as compared with $3 to $4 per acre, the rates paid for cutting by hand in Kentucky."

This is the first Installment
Cheers
Sauman

Second and last
Cheers
Sauman