[Phil]

I'll certainly be growing some "hemp."

[TWilliam]

Altho' apparently many are skeptical (myself included) that biomass fuels can completely replace fossil fuels, hemp is definitely one of the best biomass sources. It grows faster than just about any other plant (most areas can provide two harvests per year, and in some areas it could even be grown year 'round), uses sunlight more efficiently than most, will grow in marginal soils, and can provide from 50 to 100 times the amount of cellulose found in cornstalk, kenaf or sugar cane, which are the next highest providers.

Because of it's rapid growth and dense foliage, it will outcompete just about everything and thus serves as an excellent non-herbicidal weed control in fields slated for later planting in food crops.

If grown for it's fibre --one of the strongest and most durable natural fibres known-- and retted in the traditional manner (retting is the process of allowing the plants to remain in the field and partially decompose for a time after cutting), hemp will actually improve marginal soils, as it has deep roots which draw upon subsurface minerals and nutrients (unlike cotton, for example, which has shallow roots, depletes topsoil and requires enormous amounts of petrochemical input).

Hemp has almost no natural enemies (apart from the DEA) and therefore requires no pesticides.

The Fed currently subsidizes somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 million acres of fallow farmland every year (meaning they pay farmers to not grow anything there). There are another 500 million or so acres of marginal unplanted land. An acre of hemp can yield as much as 1,000 gallons of ethanol (I'm looking for confirmation on this figure). Hmm... wonder if 590 billion gallons of ethanol per year would be helpful? Oh wait... that's only one planting. Suppose we can get two harvests per year from, oh, let's say half that land. That's another 295 billion gallons - 885 billion gallons total per year; wonder if THAT would be helpful?

The Energy Information Administration at the Department of Energy says current gasoline consumption is just a tad below 9.1 million barrels (about 382.2 million gallons) per day. That's not quite 140 billion gallons per year. So even if we used only one quarter of all that land for biofuel, we'd still be producing more than one-and-a-half times our current consumption.

Say... this is starting to look interesting...

[EDIT: Meant to say ethanol not methanol; been corrected...]

[Devil]

[Micro-rant]

Do we have to repeat the same threads time and time again?

If you Search for 'hemp' in these forums, you will get 65 positive responses, including this thread. Surely everything that can be said has already been said without starting the 65th thread. If you have something new to be said, why not just post on one of the existing threads?

[/Micro-rant]

PS I've been told today I'm cranky, so I have to justify the epithet!

[TWilliam]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Devil', '[')Micro-rant]

Do we have to repeat the same threads time and time again?

If you Search for 'hemp' in these forums, you will get 65 positive responses, including this thread. Surely everything that can be said has already been said without starting the 65th thread. If you have something new to be said, why not just post on one of the existing threads?

[/Micro-rant]

PS I've been told today I'm cranky, so I have to justify the epithet!

[Ebyss]

Sounds like the UK are going for it :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3746554.stm

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he UK is to encourage the production of biomass, crops grown specially for use as environmentally friendly fuels.

[TWilliam]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ebyss', 'D')oes anybody know any links/info on growing hemp on a small scale for animal bedding and fodder? I've only seen sites for big farms.

[JohnDenver]

The Easter Islanders should have brought along some hemp:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')NDUSTRIAL HEMP NOW "Make the most of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere." - George Washington, 1794
1. "Since 1937, about half the forests in the world have been cut down to make paper. If hemp had not been outlawed, most would still be standing, oxygenating the planet." - Alan Bock
2. Historical tradition, if not current federal law, favors hemp. The U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, The Gutenberg Bible, and Old Glory (our nation's first flag) were all made from hemp - as was the favorite fuel of Henry Ford, the reading lamp oil of Abraham Lincoln, the paints used by Van Gogh and Rembrandt, and the parachute webbing that saved the live of George Bush.
3. Hemp canvas covered the Westward-bound wagons, the tall sailing ships, the bi-planes and zeppelins of World War I, and provided the original Levi pants worn by California goldminers in 1849.
4. Hemp was so crucial to colonial America that its cultivation was mandated by law.
5. INDUSTRIAL USES: As an agricultural commodity, hemp is arguably the world's top renewable resource for fuel, paper, cloth, paint, plastic, protein, soap, oil and over 25,000 other products.

[...]

[Raxozanne]

My hemp won't grow.

I keep on planting it but nothing comes up.

Does anyone have any hints/advice on sowing hemp?

[ArimoDave]

Exactly what is the difference between hemp and marijuana plants? Can a police officer, for instance,
tell at a glance which plant is which, or do the plants look too much alike? If there is enough of a
difference, and it can be shown that no deleterious effects are had from hemp, then we need to
push for a law change. The big hurdle, that I see at the moment, is that many of those who are pushing
for legalization of hemp are really pushing for legalizaion of marijuana.

The real question, then, is there a significant enough difference between the two plants to make a distinction?
If not, then the law will have to stand for the moment.

ArimoDave

[eric_b]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ArimoDave', 'E')xactly what is the difference between hemp and marijuana plants? Can a police officer, for instance,
tell at a glance which plant is which, or do the plants look too much alike? If there is enough of a
difference, and it can be shown that no deleterious effects are had from hemp, then we need to
push for a law change. The big hurdle, that I see at the moment, is that many of those who are pushing
for legalization of hemp are really pushing for legalizaion of marijuana.

The real question, then, is there a significant enough difference between the two plants to make a distinction?
If not, then the law will have to stand for the moment.

ArimoDave

[eric_b]

Oh yeah. <ahem>

If bio-diesel's your thang, you should look into hemp. Lot of oil in hemp seed.

I don't have any numbers, but I imagine hemp would be right up there as
far as the amount of oil per acre, compared to other crops.

If no one else does I'll do some research on this and post.

Part of the problem is that sense (pun intended) it's illegal in the US,
these numbers can be hard to find.

[satjeet]

Smoking hemp may be futile - but can you make breads/cakes/teas from it ?? I've heard that a little pulverizing and baking and eating can get you high ??

[eric_b]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('satjeet', 'S')moking hemp may be futile - but can you make breads/cakes/teas from it ?? I've heard that a little pulverizing and baking and eating can get you high ??

[MD]

I never knew a doper that was interested in violence. Legalization of high THC varietiesmight be good for peak stress, but not for the food supply!
phht phht...say , hand me that sack of twinkies, would ya?

[I_Like_Plants]

I think they probably know the most about hemp/marijiana in India, the traditional society there had a million uses for it. So, to find ways to use it, you might start your research there.

It's a fast-growing, nutritious, useful plant. Its use should probably be regulated the same way alcohol is. Right now it's an underground, "gateway" drug the way alcohol was during Prohibition. Not good. Taking a lot of either is not good, but in moderation both seem to be pretty harmless and even useful.

It's too useful a plant to make it illegal, especially when we're going to need all the useful plants we can find.

If you're trying to grow hemp seeds and your seeds won't sprout, you're either trying to grow seeds from bird food which have been sterilized, or perhaps your seeds never got fertilized due to no male pollen being around (hemp has male and female plants and is pollinated by air). Normally those seeds are really easy to grow.

My own personal stance is that stuff's called dope for a reason! It makes people dopey and slow. The Germans, Scots, etc were real butt-kickers on alcohol, what great empire was built by people smoking dope? I'm a Just Say No person! But, since it's becoming abundantly obvious that empire-building is a dead end, maybe pot is just what mankind needs no matter what I say.

[ubercrap]

If all that pro-hemp info is true, and I believe it is, I say it would be worth it to legalize marijuana just to grow hemp. I've never touched marijuana myself, but it really doesn't seem that harmful from what I've seen. The only reason it is a gateway drug is because people try it and realize the dangers are way over-hyped, and think the harder stuff might be no big deal either. We need some sense in this country.

[CraigX]

I have a web site, CraigX.com, dedicated to end prohibition. I realize that bio-mass will not replace fossil fuel need, but it could greatly reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Additionally, there is a lot of money to be made by legalizing marijuana. People are already smoking it. There are 160 medical pot clubs in our state. It is easy to get a doctor's note allowing you to use pot. It is not taxed or regulated--it could be made safer and we could win the drug war.

I realize that Peak Oil is going to be the more important the U.S. than to other nations because we are more dependent on the resource. Therefore, it is up to America to lead the way out of this crisis. Please give me some feed back at Craig@CraigX.com. I would appreciate a lively discussion. Thank you, CraigX

[RonMN]

When jesse "the body" ventura (pro wrestler) was elected governor of Minnesota, he spoke loud about legalizing "industrial hemp"...he said over & over again, this was NOT the legalization of drugs...this was to make paper (instead of cutting down trees), hemp oil, rope, etc etc etc...Immediately after he would make that statement the tv news media would say "there you have it...Jesse wants to legalize DRUGS".

[FoxV]

the whole banning of Hemp was massively supported (lobbied) by the oil industry as hemp oil and fibers was serious competion for oil in the manufacturing of plastics and fabrics.

I guess eventually Hemp will come back as the death of oil becomes more obvious

[MacG]

Industrial hemp is a rather remarkable plant. It is extreme in most respects. It readily yield 20 metric ton dry substance per hectare, defend itself against pests of almost all kinds, capture and convert up to 50% of the photons which hit a field, and completely suffocate all weeds. There are about 12 strains which are legalized within the EU now.