Hemp as a Biofuel??

[thesolarshark]

Hemp is the most efficient plant for biofuels. It grows everywhere on Earth except Antarctica and requires no pesticides, herbicides nor chemical fertilizers.

In the US, we've started several biofuels/ethanol conversion plants using corn and soybeans. That's a step in the right direction, but those crops require chemicals to grow on the scale needed. We're finding those chemicals in our ground water and soil, and that's a definite threat. Hemp would eliminate those chemicals and leave the soybeans and corn for food crops.

Of course when you extract the oil from the Hemp seed, the cake that's left over is a highly nutritious substance for either animal or human. It's been used for several centuries as such.

[spadlet]

That sounds really interesting. Do you have any more information on trials etc of hemp conversion to biofuels?

[Karl]

Here are a few links on the use of industrial hemp as biofuels - although they don't seem to be too strong on technical details of trials.

Hemp for Fuel

"Hemp: Many possibilities as an alternative crop"

HIA: Resources: Education: FAQs & Facts: Facts

[Cricket Tragic]

Hemp oil content is about 25%. Compare this with canola (40-50%), sunflower (45-55%), soybean (20-25%).

Yield of hemp seed 1-2 T/ha (closer to 1). Compared with canola of 1.5-3 T/ha, sunflowers of 2-3 T/ha and soybeans 3-4 T/ha.

Hemp will produce about a third to a fifth of the amount of oil from the same area of land.

While hemp does have an advantage over weeds and not that many of our current insect pests eat it, weeds remain a problem when the crop is small and other pests can be a problem.

DPIW - Industrial Hemp

[forfismum]

Lower yeilds a minus,no inputs a big plus,sounds like a sustainable crop to me. Another use for marginal land.

[forfismum]

In the north of my country we once had a thriving linen industry,the flax used is a finer fibre than hemp and the oil yield is 25% higher at app. 480 lt/ha ,hemp giving app. 360lt/ha. Corn comes in at 170lt/ha.Yields are of course likely to vary according to growing conditions but the importance of "older" species of plant tends to be overlooked and underestimated.
Rape [or Canola if you insist] comes in at about 1200lt/ha and right now this is in flower in the countryside around me.Is it illegal to grow this crop within 2 miles of a school ? I think ,and may be wrong here,that it is a forbidden crop near schools in the UK?

[Cricket Tragic]

Originally Posted by forfismum

In the north of my country we once had a thriving linen industry,the flax used is a finer fibre than hemp and the oil yield is 25% higher at app. 480 lt/ha ,hemp giving app. 360lt/ha. Corn comes in at 170lt/ha.Yields are of course likely to vary according to growing conditions but the importance of "older" species of plant tends to be overlooked and underestimated.
Rape [or Canola if you insist] comes in at about 1200lt/ha and right now this is in flower in the countryside around me.Is it illegal to grow this crop within 2 miles of a school ? I think ,and may be wrong here,that it is a forbidden crop near schools in the UK?

You wouldn’t grow corn for oil. Cereal grains are usually low in oil. Corn is grown for the carbohydrates, which are then fermented to ethanol. Flax has oil content similar or slightly lower than canola (up to 40%). Trouble with flax is that it is harder to grow and yields 1-2 T/ha, often closer to 1.5 than 2 T/ha.

Yields of course depends on water, fertilizer, soil and climate. Industrial hemp requires nitrogen inputs – quite a lot if you want to maximise yields. You could grow it on waste land with no inputs, but should expect the yield to suffer accordingly. It is not as sensitive to weed competition as sunflowers and less affected by insects compared to canola. Again, if you wanted maximize yields you would need to invest in weed control and control of some pests. Of course if you wanted enough hemp oil to do anything significant with, you would need to displace other land uses – e.g. other crops, pasture or native vegetation.

I don’t know that it has ever been illegal to grow oilseed rape near schools. Must be a funny place where you live.

[UrbanFarmboy]

Just so you know, you cant plant something in large quantities and then harvest it without sucking nutrients out of the ground.

[spadlet]

Originally Posted by UrbanFarmboy

Just so you know, you cant plant something in large quantities and then harvest it without sucking nutrients out of the ground.

But couldn't a crop be grown as part of a rotation system? So that the different uses of the land over the years reduces the overall efect of the large quantities which are being grown? The nutrients that you take out when you harvest don't just vanish, they go places. Animals and other orgaisms travel over crops and they can be nutrient carriers.

When you convert the hemp to biofuel, would the trace nutrients be separated from the fuel molecules or would they remain as trace impurities in the fuel? If they are separated as part of the manufacturing process then what happens to them? If they are part of the fuel, what happens to them during combustion? Is there any way in which they can become part of their own cycle?

[Windguy]

Originally Posted by UrbanFarmboy

Just so you know, you cant plant something in large quantities and then harvest it without sucking nutrients out of the ground.

How much sewerage do we send out to sea via a giant pipe would be perfect for making farming sustainable in more arid areas.