Ethenol and hempinal
I have to say with the new hybrid vechiles going around are marvolus for the driver and for the consumer, but what if we never had to discover anymore petro? It's in the future, but why can't we
try these other alternatives now? I found a little bit of information this time about one, you have already heard what ethanol can do, why not hempinal lets explore the possibilities. :) I imagine some
would like it because it burns clean. Here's a few smile details.
Facts you should know about Hemp
Monday, February 13, 2006
Fuel:
Planting 6% of the continental U.S. with biomass crops would satisfy all America's energy needs.
Hemp is Earth's number-one biomass resource; it is capable of producing 10 tons per acre in four months.
Biomass can be converted to methane, methanol, or gasoline at a cost comparable to petroleum, and hemp is much better for the environment.
Hemp can produce 10 times more methanol than corn.
Hemp fuel burns clean. Petroleum causes acid rain due to sulfur pollution.
The use of hemp fuel does not contribute to global warming.
Food:
Hemp seed can be pressed into a nutritious oil, which contains the highest amount of fatty acids in the plant kingdom. Essential oils are responsible for our immune system responses, and clear the arteries of cholesterol and plaque.
The byproduct of pressing the oil from hemp seed is high quality protein seed cake. It can be sprouted (malted) or ground and baked into cakes, breads, and casseroles. Hemp seed protein is one of mankind's finest, most complete and available-to-the-body vegetable proteins.
Hemp seed was the world's number one wild and domestic bird seed until the 1937 Marijuana prohibition law. Four million pounds of hemp seed for songbirds were sold at retail in the U.S. in 1937. Birds will pick hemp seeds out and eat them first from a pile of mixed seed. Birds in the wild live longer and breed more with hemp seed in their diet, using the oil for the feathers and their overall health.
Fiber:
Hemp is the oldest cultivated fiber plant in the world.
Low-THC fiber hemp varieties developed by the French and others have been available for over 20 years. It is impossible to get high from fiber hemp. Over 600,000 acres of hemp is grown worldwide with no drug misuse problem.
One acre of hemp can produce as much usable fiber as 4 acres of trees or two acres of cotton.
Trees cut down to make paper take 50 to 500 years to grow, while hemp can be cultivated in as little as 100 days and can yield 4 times more paper over a 20 year period.
Until 1883, from 75-90% of all paper in the world was made with cannabis hemp fiber including that for books, Bibles, maps, paper money, stocks and bonds, newspapers, etc.
Hemp paper is longer lasting than wood pulp, stronger, acid-free, and chlorine free. (Chlorine is estimated to cause up to 10% of all Cancers.)
Hemp paper can be recycled 7 times, wood pulp 4 times.
If the hemp pulp paper process reported by the USDA in 1916, were legal today it would soon replace 70% of all wood paper products.
Rag paper containing hemp fiber is the highest quality and longest lasting paper ever made. It can be torn when wet, but returns to its full strength when dry. Barring extreme conditions, rag paper remains stable for centuries.
Hemp particle board may be up to 2 times stronger than wood particleboard and holds nails better.
Hemp is softer, warmer, more water absorbent, has three times the tensile strength, and is many times more durable than cotton. Hemp production uses less chemicals than cotton.
From 70-90% of all rope, twine, and cordage was made from hemp until 1937.
A strong lustrous fiber; hemp withstands heat, mildew, insects, and is not damaged by light. Oil paintings on hemp and/or flax canvas have stayed in fine condition for centuries.
Medicine:
Deaths from marijuana use: 0
From 1842 through the 1880s, extremely strong marijuana (then known as cannabis extractums), hashish extracts, tinctures, and elixirs were routinely the second and third most-used medicines in America for humans (from birth through old age). These extracts were also used in veterinary medicine until the 1920s and longer.
For at least 3,000 years prior to 1842 widely varying marijuana extracts (bud, leaves, roots, etc.) were the most commonly used real medicines in the world for the majority of mankind's illnesses.
The U.S. Pharmacopoeia indicated cannabis should be used for treating such ailments as fatigue, fits of coughing, rheumatism, asthma, delirium tremens, migraine headaches, and the cramps and depressions associated with menstruation.
In this century, cannabis research has demonstrated therapeutic value and complete safety in the treatment of many health problems including asthma, glaucoma, nausea, tumors, epilepsy, infection, stress, migraines, anorexia, depression, rheumatism, arthritis, and possibly herpes.
Deaths from aspirin (U.S. per year): 180 - 1,000 +
Deaths from legal drugs (U.S. per year) at doses used for prevention, diagnosis, or therapy: 106,000
Industry:
Almost any product that can be made from wood, cotton, or petroleum (including plastics) can be made from hemp. There are more than 25,000 known uses for hemp.
For thousands of years virtually all good paints and varnishes were made with hemp seed oil and/or linseed oil.
Hemp stems are 80% hurds (pulp by-product after the hemp fiber is removed from the plant). Hemp hurds are 77% cellulose - a primary chemical feed stock (industrial raw material) used in the production of chemicals, plastics, and fibers. Depending on which U.S. agricultural report is correct, an acre of full grown hemp plants can sustainably provide from four to 50 or even 100 times the cellulose found in cornstalks, kenaf, or sugar cane (the planet's next highest annual cellulose plants).
One acre of hemp produces as much cellulose fiber pulp as 4.1 acres of trees, making hemp a perfect material to replace trees for pressed board, particle board, and concrete construction molds.
Heating and compressing plant fibers can create practical, inexpensive, fire-resistant construction materials with excellent thermal and sound-insulating qualities. These strong plant fiber construction materials could replace dry wall and wood paneling. William B. Conde of Conde's Redwood Lumber, Inc. near Eugene, Oregon, in conjunction with Washington State University (1991-1993), has demonstrated the superior strength, flexibility, and economy of hemp composite building materials compared to wood fiber, even as beams.
Isochanvre, a rediscovered French building material made from hemp hurds mixed with lime petrifies into a mineral state and lasts for many centuries. Archeologists have found a bridge in the south of France from the Merovingian period (500-751 A.D.), built with this process.
Hemp has been used throughout history for carpet backing. Hemp fiber has potential in the manufacture of strong, rot resistant carpeting - eliminating the poisonous fumes of burning synthetic materials in a house or commercial fire, along with allergic reactions associated with new synthetic carpeting.
Plastic plumbing pipe (PVC pipes) can be manufactured using renewable hemp cellulose as the chemical feed stocks, replacing non-renewable coal or petroleum based chemical feed stocks.
In 1941 Henry Ford built a plastic car made of fiber from hemp and wheat straw. Hemp plastic is biodegradable, synthetic plastic is not.
Thanks to http://www.hempcar.org/hempfacts.shtml
for all these nicely compiled facts!
Read any good books lately?
The Hemp Manifesto :
101 Ways That Hemp
Can Save Our World
by Rowan Robinson
See more great books in the
MASS CANN/NORML Bookstore
If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.
-- Thomas Jefferson
Other Hemp Resources on the 'net:
Hemp Industries Association
HempStores.com
VoteHemp.org
HempEmbargo.com
North American Industrial Hemp Council
FACT: The first Levi jeans were NOT made from hemp, as is often reported.
FACT: The original drafts of the Declaration of Independence were printed on hemp paper.
FACT: For the first 162 years of America's existence, marijuana was totally legal and hemp was a common crop. But during the 1930s, the U.S. government and the media began spreading outrageous lies about marijuana, which led to its prohibition.
The South Dakota NORML affiliate is doing some great work toward re-legalizing hemp in this country. Please see their web site for much more information about hemp.
Comments, suggestions, additional hemp resources? Email the webmaster.
Pollution: Petrol vs Hemp
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Hemp Biodiesel vs Diesel: Compiled from: Greenfuels and NBB
• Overall ozone (smog) forming potential of biodiesel is less than diesel fuel. The ozone forming potential of the speciated hydrocarbon emissions was nearly 50 percent less than that measured for diesel fuel.1
• Sulfur emissions are essentially eliminated with pure biodiesel. The exhaust emissions of sulfur oxides and sulfates (major components of acid rain) from biodiesel were essentially eliminated compared to sulfur oxides and sulfates from diesel.1
• Criteria pollutants are reduced with biodiesel use. The use of biodiesel in an unmodified Cummins N14 diesel engine resulted in substantial reductions of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter. Emissions of nitrogen oxides were slightly increased.1
• Carbon Monoxide: The exhaust emissions of carbon monoxide (a poisonous gas) from biodiesel were 50 percent lower than carbon monoxide emissions from diesel.1
• Particulate Matter: Breathing particulate has been shown to be a human health hazard. The exhaust emissions of particulate matter from biodiesel were 30 percent lower than overall particulate matter emissions from diesel.1
• Hydrocarbons: The exhaust emissions of total hydrocarbons (a contributing factor in the localized formation of smog and ozone) were 93 percent lower for biodiesel than diesel fuel.1
• Nitrogen Oxides: NOx emissions from biodiesel increase or decrease depending on the engine family and testing procedures. NOx emissions (a contributing factor in the localized formation of smog and ozone) from pure (100%) biodiesel increased in this test by 13 percent. However, biodiesel's lack of sulfur allows the use of NOx control technologies that cannot be used with conventional diesel. So, biodiesel NOx emissions can be effectively managed and efficiently eliminated as a concern of the fuel's use.1
• Biodiesel reduces the health risks associated with petroleum diesel. Biodiesel emissions showed decreased levels of PAH and nitrited PAH compounds which have been identified as potential cancer causing compounds. In the recent testing, PAH compounds were reduced by 75 to 85 percent, with the exception of benzo(a)anthracene, which was reduced by roughly 50 percent. Targeted nPAH compounds were also reduced dramatically with biodiesel fuel, with 2-nitrofluorene and 1-nitropyrene reduced by 90 percent, and the rest of the nPAH compounds reduced to only trace levels.1
Environmental & Safety Information:
• Acute Oral Toxicity/Rates: Biodiesel is nontoxic. The acute oral LD50 (lethal dose) is greater than 17.4 g/Kg body weight. By comparison, table salt (NaCL) is nearly 10 times more toxic.1
• Skin Irritation: A 24-hr. human patch test indicated that undiluted biodiesel produced very mild irritation. The irritation was less than the result produced by a 4 percent soap and water solution.1
• Aquatic Toxicity: A 96-hr. lethal concentration for bluegill of biodiesel grade methyl esters was greater than 1000 mg/L. Lethal concentrations at these levels are generally deemed "insignificant" according to NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) guidelines in its Registry of the Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances.1
• Biodegradability: Biodiesel degrades about four times faster than petroleum diesel. Within 28 days, pure biodiesel degrades 85 to 88 percent in water. Dextrose (a test sugar used as the positive control when testing biodegradability) degraded at the same rate. Blending biodiesel with diesel fuel accelerates its biodegradability. For example, blends of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent diesel fuel degrade twice as fast as #2 diesel alone.1
• Flash Point: The flash point of a fuel is defined as the temperature at which it will ignite when exposed to a spark or flame. Biodiesel's flash point is over 300 deg. Fahrenheit, well above petroleum based diesel fuel's flash point of around 125 deg. Fahrenheit. Testing has shown the flash point of biodiesel blends increases as the percentage of biodiesel increases. Therefore, biodiesel and blends of biodiesel with petroleum diesel are safer to store, handle, and use than conventional diesel fuel.1
Ethanol:
Although the concept of ethanol as a fuel began as early as the first Model T car designed by Henry Ford, American usage of ethanol-blended gasoline did not begin until the late 1970s. Environmentally, the use of ethanol blends has since assisted in reducing carbon monoxide emissions as mandated by the U.S. Clean Air Act of 1990.2
Hemp Ethanol vs Petrol:
Net Reduction in Ground-level Ozone Forming Emissions: Ground-level ozone causes human respiratory problems and damages many plants but does nothing to increase ozone concentration in the stratosphere that protects the earth from the sun's ultraviolet radiation. There are many compounds that react with sunlight to form ground-level ozone, which, in combination with moisture and particulate matter, creates 'smog', the most visible form of air pollution. These compounds include carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons, benzene, and nitrogen oxides (nitrous oxide and nitric oxide).2
In an effort to reduce automobile emissions that contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone, the highly populated state of California has legislated stringent automobile emissions standards. Several Canadian urban centers record similar hazardous exposures to carbon monoxide, especially during late fall and winter, and would be out of compliance if Canada implemented air quality legislation equivalent to the U.S. Clean Air Act. In Canada, southern Ontario, southern British Columbia, and parts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are prone to smog. Using oxygenated fuels, such as ethanol, is one way of addressing the issue of air pollution.2
The net effect of ethanol use results in an overall decrease in ozone formation. The emissions produced by burning ethanol are less reactive with sunlight than those produced by burning gasoline, resulting in a lower potential for forming the damaging ozone. In Canada, where the volatility of ethanol blends must match normal gasoline, the ozone forming potential of ethanol blends is even lower than in the U.S., where ethanol blends are allowed to have increased volatility.2
Reduction in Harmful Greenhouse Gases: The 'Greenhouse Effect' refers to the Earth's atmosphere trapping the sun's radiation. It is a term often used synonymously with 'Global Warming', which refers to the increasing average global temperature, arising from an increase in greenhouse gases from industrial activity and population growth. Greenhouse gases contributing to the Greenhouse Effect include carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen oxide.2
The term 'Climate Change' refers to a wide range of changes in weather patterns that result from global warming. A substantial increase in the Earth's average temperature could result in a change in agricultural patterns and melting of polar ice caps, raising sea levels and causing flooding of low-lying coastal areas.2
The use of ethanol-blended fuels such as E85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) can reduce the net emissions of greenhouse gases by as much as 37.1%. Ethanol-blended fuel as E10 (10% ethanol and 90% gasoline) reduces greenhouse gases by up to 3.9%. By the year 2010, the reductions for E85 and E10 are projected to be 44.5% and 4.6%, respectively. This represents only a small percentage of the total greenhouse gas reduction required from the Kyoto Protocol. It is expected that once ethanol is made from cellulose, the greenhouse gas emissions reductions will further improve. Hemp produces four times as much cellulose per acre than trees.2
Emissions Reductions from Using Ethanol-Blended Fuels:
Reduction in Net Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions: Use of 10% ethanol-blended fuels results in a 6-10% net reduction of CO2. The carbon dioxide released from ethanol production and use is less than that absorbed by the plants and soil organic matter used to produce ethanol. The carbon dioxide produced during ethanol production and gasoline combustion is extracted from the atmosphere by plants for starch and sugar formation during photosynthesis. It is assimilated by the crop in its roots, stalks and leaves, which usually return to the soil to maintain organic matter, or in the grain, the portion currently used to produce ethanol. Over time, the organic matter breaks down to CO2, but with the implementation of conservation measures, such as reduced tillage, the soil organic matter will build up. Therefore, by increasing its organic matter content, the soil acts as a significant sink for carbon dioxide.2
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's):Volatile organic compounds are highly reactive in the atmosphere, and are significant sources of ground-level ozone formation. Because ethanol oxygenates the fuel, there is approximately a 7% overall decrease in exhaust VOC's emitted from low-level ethanol-blended fuels relative to conventional fossil fuels. In high level blends, the potential for exhaust VOC reduction is 30% or more. 2
Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) and Particulates: As ethanol contains no sulphur, and because it promotes more complete fuel combustion, blending gasoline with ethanol would reduce any potential for these emissions and the adverse effects of sulphur. In diesel engines, where SO2 and particulates are of concern, the use of ethanol-blended diesel or neat ethanol shows a significant reduction in these emissions. 2
Joel Miller's Random Fire
Put hemp in your tank
Joel Miller, WorldNetDaily.com (US Web)
While George Bush Sr. didn’t face the same sort of energy crisis that George Bush Jr. now faces -- with OPEC scrooging the oil supply and Venezuela getting uppity with its share of the black-gold mine -- he did more than rattle sabers on the pretext of stopping one. The Gulf War, so preached by pundits galore, was all about oil; got to keep the lifeblood of American commerce pumping, right?
Sort of.
Before smart-bombing the daylights out of Iraq, Bush had a smart plan to wean America off of oil, at least partially (can’t let all those family oil wells go bust, now can we?). On June 12, 1989, the self-proclaimed “environmental president,” unveiled a plan to cut down on air pollution caused by petrol fuels.
"Too many Americans continue to breathe dirty air,” said the elder Bush, “and political paralysis has plagued further progress against air pollution. We've seen enough of this stalemate. It's time to clear the air."
How? Why switching to methanol, of course -- what Bush tagged, "home-grown energy for America." Gives you kind of a warm, patriotic feeling, doesn’t it? Turning our own trees to fuel (methanol being alcohol made from wood) makes more sense than relying on fickle foreign cartels like OPEC and even more fickle domestic cartels like the U.S. Department of Energy. Unfortunately, like so many other things in the Bush presidency, what started out good, spoiled in the end. Along with bombing Iraq, Bush also bombed his energy policy. Despite all his gallant (and probably disingenuous) efforts, alternative non-petrol fuels remained on the drawing board, far from the gas tanks of Americans.
Pity. It’s true, while most of us don’t enjoy huffing sulfur dioxide, most of us don’t really want to mess around with alternative fuels like methanol, either. And then there are those who, to paraphrase the famous Monte Python ditty, think, “Every tree is sacred. Every tree is great. If a tree is wasted, God gets quite irate.” So, that puts the axe to methanol.
But now, at the start of the Bush Jr. presidency, there might be some serious economic incentive to look for something other than petrol. With the current crimp in energy, looking for an alternative would be -- in the catchword of the Bush Sr. presidency -- “prudent.”
Surprising to some, no doubt, a very good possibility is hemp. Granted, putting a reefer in your tank hardly seems like a sensible idea. What if the Chrysler gets stoned and starts weaving between lanes? Not going to happen. Hemp fuel is about as intoxicating as a jug of Mazola.
And hemp has a lot going for it as a fuel.
Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the diesel engine, designed it to run on vegetable and seed oils like hemp; he actually ran the thing on peanut oil for the 1900 World's Fair. Henry Ford used hemp to not only construct cars but also fuel them.
As an alternative to methanol, hemp has at least one glowing report: the plant produces up to four times more cellulose per acre than trees. And a hemp crop grows a little quicker than a forest.
As for an alternative to petroleum,
• Hemp grows like mad from border to border in America; so shortages are unlikely. And, unlike petrol, unless we run out of soil, hemp is renewable.
• Growing and harvesting the stuff has much less environmental impact than procuring oil.
• Hemp fuel is biodegradable; so oil spills become fertilizer not eco-catastrophes.
• Hemp fuel does not contribute to sulfur dioxide air poisoning.
• Other noxious emissions like carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons are radically slashed by using “biodiesel.”
• Hemp fuel is nontoxic and only a mild skin irritant; anybody who’s ever cleaned out an old carburetor with gasoline can confirm the same is not true for petrol.
• Growing hemp for fuel would be a tremendous boon for American farmers and the agricultural industry, as opposed to people like, say, the Bush family.
And that’s why hemp might not go anywhere as a fuel alternative. Oil interests are big and donate likewise to politicians, and selling a man on an idea that will cost him more than he’ll benefit requires an amazingly skilled orator -- or a gun. Unfortunately, unless you’re the federal government, gunpoint conversions are usually illegal. Ergo, PR is about the best bet right now.
There are many people working hard on this front, including the Hemp Car and its intrepid crew. Currently ginning up for a trans-America evangelism tour, the Hemp Car plans to spread the good word of hemp-fuel viability at stops in both the U.S. and Canada.
For whatever good it will do, they should make sure to stop by Washington, D.C., and have a word with President George W. Bush. The current oil crisis and our nation’s dependency on sometimes-persnickety foreign sources might find the new chief executive with an open mind to fuel sources other than Texas tea -- regardless of his oily bank accounts. And, while salvaging his dad’s legacy is not Goal 1 for Dubya, it might also help him look more forward thinking in terms of energy policy and the environment.
Of course, hemp fuel may never take off. It might dry up like all those hemp crops left unattended after the feds banned their cultivation in the 1930s. One way or the other, Bush should consider freeing up the market to innovate with alternative fuels like hemp oil -- it couldn’t hurt, and it stands the chance to help. In so doing, he’ll end his term with a far better moniker than the “environmental president.” For, if other policy decisions he makes go in a similar direction, we can perhaps call him the “free-market president.”
Then he can definitely say to his old man, “Gotcha there, pops.”
Related columns:
• Get hemp to the jive
• Hemp today, gone tomorrow
• DEA not hemp to the jive
Joel Miller is the commentary editor of WorldNetDaily.com (US Web).
© 2001 WorldNetDaily.com
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