Hemp makes comback as biofuels feedstock in 43-acre California trial

In Canada, Hartacre Farms and Performance Plants have partnered to raise a trial crop of hemp biomass for the Lafarge Bath Cement plant in Bath, Ontario. The partners said that input costs were lower to corn, including 100 pounds of potash, 25 pounds of 11-52-0 and 20 gallons of UAN at planting and no chemicals during growing.

The partnership expects a crop of 5 tons per acre, and said that the crop rotation will fight disease.

Hemp biofuels background

In 2008, the Vermont state House has approved a measure that would permit the cultivation of hemp in the state, subject to federal approval. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration regards hemp and marijuana as the same plant, although bill supporters say that the active element in marijuana can be reduced nearly to zero in industrial hemp.

Hemp can be used as a cellulosic ethanol feedstock, raising the possibility that, in the future, biofuels could be made from dope using a fermentation process also used to make moonshine whiskey.

North Dakota has a similar law on the books, but farmers are not permitted by the DEA to cultivate hemp.

The state of Vermont has been working hard on taking a leading role in biofuels development. The Vermont Economic Progress Council awarded $1.7 million in job creation incentives to Mascoma to induce the company to relocate to the state. The introduction of hemp would certainly raise awareness of Vermont within the biofuels industry, although not perhaps a positive awareness in all corners.

Among the known feedstocks for ethanol, hemp is easily the most controversial because of the psychotropic properties of THC, a chemical found in all plants of the hemp (cannabis) family. Critics of DEA policy, which forbids the cultivation of hemp, point out that THC concentrations in industrial hemp are not sufficient for drug use.

Hemp is used throughout the world for paper, health foods, and rope, among other products. It is a fast growing plant, grows naturally in many parts of the US with no fertilizer or water inputs, and has a good energy returned on energy invested (EROEI) ratio.

In the United States, feral hemp, or “ditchweed”, continues to grow in at least 21 states where the DEA has eradication programs in place. The feral hemp is descended from plantings that date to the World War II “Hemp for Victory” program, when a shortage of raw materials led to a relaxation in the prohibition against hemp cultivation.

In the US, ethanol must be “de-natured”, or mixed with a small amount of gasoline, to make it undrinkable. In its pure form, ethanol is 200 proof alcohol and is also popularly known as “moonshine”, especially in regions such as Appalachia where it continues to be made by home brewers.

“Moonshiners” would often put their own product into their cars to make them run faster, one of the earliest known usages of ethanol as an automotive fuel. The sport of stock car racing evolved from races between “moonshiners”, which perhaps explains why the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) has been more reluctant to embrace ethanol as a racing fuel. The Indy Racing League runs its cars on E100.

A modern-day Hemp Car toured the United States between July 4 and October 2, 2001, racking up 10,000 miles of travel in the process, and promoting the use of industrial hemp. The Mercedez Benz vehicle used hemp-based biodiesel as a fuel.

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