Hemp Car

The Ford Focus is spearheading a comprehensive European Recycling Campaign, the car manufacturer has said.

The campaign has created over 300 separate car parts formed with recycling materials and diverts around 20,000 tonnes away from landfill each year.

Ford recycled materials include recycled plastics that make up 25% of heater and air conditioned housing, 50% of battery trays and recycled materials that make up 100% of fabric seat options.

Sources for this recycled material are everyday items as diverse as plastic bottles, CDs, computers and even denim jeans.

The noise insulation in all Ford vehicles is made from jeans and reclaimed car seat upholstery.

Ford is undergoing developments to create more alternative bio-based materials in order to decrease dependence on oil based products.

Ford researchers are currently developing new materials that include more natural ingredients such as soy flour, hemp and cellulose.


Source: http://www.insideireland.ie/index.cfm/section/news/ext/fordrecycle001/ca...

Ancient plant has many uses, from medicinal to industrial

By Jesse Rowland

Ever since I first learned what it was, I've been fascinated by marijuana. It's a miraculous plant that can and has been used for a multitude of purposes since at least 8,000 B.C.E.

I feel that marijuana is a vital part of the continuation of our country and the planet, and it should be fully legalized for the use of whatever people see fit, including recreational.

Cannabis can be adapted with any industry, be it agricultural, medical, construction, textile or cosmetic. In Jamestown, Va., in 1619, a law "ordered" all farmers to grow marijuana for the colony. Similar laws were also passed in Massachusetts and Connecticut in 1631 and 1632. In Virginia, during times of shortage between 1763 and 1767, you could actually be jailed for not growing it.

Henry Ford, who designed a vehicle made out of hemp fibers and powered by hemp seed oil, once said, "Why use up the forests which were centuries in the making and the mines which required ages to lay down if we can get the equivalent of forest and mineral products in the annual growth of the hemp fields?"

And it makes sense. Why, as the most powerful country on the planet, would we not utilize the most versatile plant known to man?

From drugs to oil

By Brandon Romines, Helium

Tycoons fear hemp because it could out compete products in many industries. Marijuana, the psychoactive form of hemp, is truly a medicine that has been mislabeled a drug. Not one death can be attributed to marijuana, a claim not even aspirin can make.

Industrial hemp, contains almost no tetrahydrocannibinol(THC). Hemp can be used to produce fuel, fabric, paper and even furniture. The cannabis plant is one of the most versatile plants in the world.

Though marijuana is less harmful and the effects more mild than alcohol, it is an illegal drug. Simply by smoking this plant, many chronically ill patients feel relief many prescriptions can't provide, and with none of the drawbacks.

Marijuana is not physically addictive, it has never killed anyone, and anyone who really needed it could grow it easily enough themselves. Corporations are scared of the cannabis plant because of all of it's qualities. They would make no profit if everyone could grow their own medicine!

By Fiber for Fashion, Staff

From paper, cordage, furniture, and handicraft industries, uses of abaca (Musa textilis Nee) have extended to natural fiber-reinforced plastic composite material to replace some parts of cars.

Dr. Leslie Joy Lanticse-Diaz, chair, Department of Mining, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, University of the Philippines Diliman, shared this information with natural fiber stakeholders at the recently concluded National Conference on Natural Fibers held at Dusit Thani Hotel, Makati City. The study conducted by a team of researchers led by Dr. Diaz aimed, among other things, to incorporate the natural fiber into plastic matrices for various applications.

Research results show that the fiber of abaca or Manila hemp displayed a tensile strength of up to 970 MPa, which means that 140,686 pounds per square inch of force is needed to break this fiber. Abaca fiber was also reported to reach a maximum of 3 meters that gives it the advantage of length. She explained that these were among the factors that made abaca fiber viable for automotive composites.

The researchers also concluded that weave construction and weave patterns are significant parameters to be optimized to ensure better control and consistency in the properties of the composite to be constructed with abaca as the natural fiber reinforcement.

By Paul Louis, Natural News, Staff Writer

PSA, the French manufacturer for Peugeot and Citroen, has recently initiated its Green Materials Plan. This plan intends to increase car parts made from natural materials 600 percent by 2015. They are making a few parts now that are based on flax and hemp.

PSA's Green Materials Plan focuses on three areas: Biopolymers to replace plastics derived from oil; Natural fibers from flax and hemp mixed with other materials, such as wood chips; And recycled materials from shredded plastic bottles mixed with glass fibers.

The plastic interior door panels made by PSA are already 50 percent flax fibers pressed with wood chips. Other parts, including mirror and windshield wiper mountings, use hemp instead of glass fiber in their material mix.

Oil based plastics in cars make up to 20 percent of a car's weight on average. Of that 20 percent, only six percent is currently green or cellulose based. PSA's goal is to increase that six percent to 30 percent of the plastic used.

Hemp is legal in France, so further advances with hemp for car parts may unfold. Laurent Bechin, PSA's natural-fibers specialist, pointed out that the hemp used does not produce marijuana. "It would need about two tons of this material to produce one joint", he quipped.

By Sarah Harlan, WFIE

KENTUCKY (NBC) - Some Kentucky activists said they've found a way to make cleaner fuel without depleting food resources.

A Kentucky oil awareness group is holding a series of meetings to discuss bio-diesel instead of ethanol, which comes from corn and soybeans.

The group wants to use algae and hemp instead.

Right now, it's illegal to grow the crop in the United States.

"In Jessamine County, KY in front of the courthouse is a historical marker," Harry Lee with the oil awareness group said. "It talks about the hemp crop that Jessamine County used to grow. 1850 they grew 40,000 tons, they sold it for $5 million bucks."

In the mid 1800's, three Kentucky counties produced more than half of the hemp in the U.S. used for rope and twine, among other things.

Today, studies show it could be used to make bio diesel.


Source: http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=10713526

By David Finlayson, Edmonton Journal

A car made of hemp may sound like someone's wacky fantasy, but it's as real as General Motors' bankruptcy.

Motive Industries in Calgary is building a vehicle using panels and other parts made of a hemp fibre material that's lighter and cheaper than glass fibre.

It's being put together to try to win the$10 millionXPrizecompetition for the car that gets 100 miles to the gallon and beats other green cars in a race.

And Motive will benefit from the $15 million Alberta Biomaterials Development Centre announced Thursday, says John Wolodko, polymers group leader at Alberta Research Council.

The structural components of the car, which will start trials in mid June, will still be made of more traditional materials, said Wolodko, whose team is helping with the Motive project.

Eventually more environmentally friendly fibres made of hemp and flax will replace glass fibre in cars and other manufacturing processes, he said.

"Some European car manufacturers are already using bio-materials."

The new centre, to be set up at ARC's agricultural research facility in Vegreville and at the University of Alberta, will also help Pildysh Technologies, which is developing portland cement blocks impregnated with bio-fibres that make them lighter and stronger.

Calgary-based Pildysh is a couple of years away from marketing a product, and vice-president Richard Bueble said the new centre should help speed the process.

What if Americans could buy cigarettes but were banned from growing tobacco? Buy bread but not allowed to grow wheat? That is the case with industrial hemp, a product in everything from car doors to milk...legally.

By CNBC

By Dominic Kilburn, Farmers Guardian

GROWERS still to make a final decision on cropping choice this spring, and those with a larger acreage to drill than originally planned for, could look to grow hemp under contract as an alternative to regular break crops.

With fast establishment and rapid growth, neither herbicides nor fungicides are required for growing hemp.

That’s according to East Anglian-based processing and marketing company Hemcore, which says that hemp can offer a competitive gross margin – characterised by high yields and low input – while providing additional benefits such as good weed control opportunities, fewer field operations and improved soils.

Richard Smart, who joined the company as fieldsman for the crop earlier this year, says that Hemcore is actively searching for farmers to grow the crop this spring following last year’s opening of a state-of-the-art factory in Halesworth, Suffolk – capable of a 50,000 tonnes per year throughput.

Demand for hemp being grown in the UK has been limited by processing technology and new and developing end markets, he says.

“Now, with established markets for the fibre in the automotive industry and domestic insulation, horse bedding and construction from the woody core of the stem, things are really moving forward both in the UK and Europe.

By Andy Birkey, Minnesota Independent

It can be made into paper, rope, food, biodegradable plastic and even low-carbon concrete, but in Minnesota it is illegal to grow hemp. A bipartisan group of legislators is hoping hemp production will be a boon to Minnesota farmers and manufacturers as demand for the plant and its byproducts continues to grow. The Industrial Hemp Development Act (HF 608) would allow the state to issue licenses to qualified farmers who pass background checks.

Canada already allows for industrial hemp production, and North Dakota has passed laws to allow its farmers to produce hemp — only to be stymied by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency.

Hemp farmers are required to gain a permit from the DEA, but the agency has continued to reject the applications of North Dakota farmers, prompting them to file suit against the federal government. Six other states have legalized hemp production — Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana and West Virginia — yet none is producing the crop because of DEA resistance.

By Samantha Rose Hunt, TG Daily

Chicago (IL) - With the entire world looking for green alternatives, Toyota is in talks regarding an ultra lightweight, incredibly efficient plug-in hybrid with a body made of seaweed. The vehicle could potentially be seen in showrooms in 15 years, but it’s definitely not coming any time soon.

The concept builds on the 1/X plug-in hybrid concept that weighs in at 926 pounds. With bioplastics gaining popularity, instead of the vehicle having a carbon fiber body, it would instead be composed of plastic made from seaweed. Toyota believes this is a practice that will begin to catch on with other manufacturers.

Bioplastics are currently being utilized for many things, cellphone cases and gift cards being among those items. According to USA Today, in five years it is expected that demand will increase to 50 billion pounds annually, which would account for 10 percent of the world's plastic market. Bioplastic production requires the use of 30 percent less energy than the production of petroleum-based plastics.

Even though you want be able to see the algae car, Toyota will be showing off three of its awesome hybrids- the next generation Prius, a new Camry concept, and the 1/X which is named for its significantly reduced carbon footprint- at the Melbourne Motor Show.

By AKIKO KOGA, Kyodo News

KITAMI, Hokkaido (Kyodo) Despite the bad impression many have of hemp due to a perceived rise in marijuana use, the city of Kitami in Hokkaido is trying to create a buzz by cultivating the plant for its many industrial uses.

The plant is grown on a plot on a hill slightly outside the center of the city, which lies on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, and protected by a 2.7-meter-tall fence covered with grating.

Hidetaro Funayama, 58, represents a group involved in a city development project aimed at growing hemp without a narcotic component for the production of construction materials and "washi" paper.

He has been working on the cultivation of hemp since 2006 after visiting Germany, a nation considered to be advanced in processing hemp for industrial use, in 2003. He learned that Germans widely used the plant as an eco-friendly material and interior finishing material for deluxe automobiles.

Kitami's periphery is known as a natural growth area for hemp and Funayama said the plants keep growing no matter how many times local officials try to get rid of them.

The Hokkaido Prefectural Government recognized the land as a special place for the growth of hemp for industrial use last August in response to an application filed by the Kitami municipality.

By Jeremy Briggs, Hemphasis

Biodiesel fuel from Hemp Seed Oil

Hemp seed oil can be used as is in bio-diesel engines. Methyl esters, or bio-diesel, can be made from any oil or fat including hemp seed oil. The reaction requires the oil, an alcohol (usually methanol), and a catalyst, which produces bio-diesel and small amount of glycerol or glycerin. When co-fired with 15% methanol, bio-diesel fuel produces energy less than 1/3 as pollution as petroleum diesel.

Energy and Fuel from Hemp Stalks through Pyrolysis

Pyrolysis is the technique of applying high heat to biomass, or organic plants and tree matter, with little or no air. Reduced emissions from coal-fired power plants and automobiles can be accomplished by converting biomass to fuel utilizing pyrolysis technology. The process can produce, from lingo-cellulosic material (like the stalks of hemp), charcoal, gasoline, ethanol, non-condensable gasses, acetic acid, acetone, methane, and methanol. Process adjustments can be done to favor charcoal, pyrolytic oil, gas, or methanol, with 95.5% fuel-to-feed ratios. Around 68% of the energy of the raw biomass will be contained in the charcoal and fuel oils -- renewable energy generated here at home, instead of overpaying for foreign petroleum.

By Becky Rynor, Canwest News Service

It was Henry Ford, the American founder of the Ford Motor Company and a prolific inventor, who did some of the earliest work in developing biocomposites -- products that combine organic fibres from agriculture and forestry waste with petroleum-based materials such as plastic.

"He was at the forefront," says Ed Trueman, with JER Envirotech of Delta, B.C.

"If you go back to the early days of Henry Ford, in the late teens and early 1920s, he did an awful lot of development work with soy-based products -- soy-based plastics, soy-based polymers that actually ended up in auto body panels. He was brought up on a farm and he was very concerned about the environment."

Ford was stymied in getting biocomposites widely developed and accepted, Trueman says, by the technological limitations of the time and the ready availability of cheap petroleum.

But recent advances in technology, combined with industry's desire to reduce costs and be environmentally conscious, is moving the field forward,says christian Belanger with the National Research Council.

Belanger says this has a growing number of industries looking at biocomposites for everything from food packaging to car and airplane components.

By Kristin Jirovsky/Daily Sun

LINCOLN -- The three Nebraska U.S. Senate candidates discussed their views on ethanol as a renewable fuel source Thursday during a forum at the Mary Riepma-Ross Media Arts Center in Lincoln.

Before the forum, Mike Johanns, Scott Kleeb and Steve Larrick watched with several Lincolnites a video entitled, “The Ethanol Maze.” The film was a project completed by students of a depth reporting journalism class taught at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Each prospective senator then took his turn to share views on ethanol as an option for alternative fuel.

Kleeb, a Democrat, was up first, saying he is a supporter of using corn-based ethanol for alternative fuel.

“This debate is going to be increasingly important,” Kleeb said.

Most of all, Kleeb said that ethanol should be the first piece of the puzzle in reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil.

Kleeb posed a question to the event attendees. In 2005, the energy bill was passed that promised a lessened dependence on foreign oil and lower prices for fuel.

“Which of these have we gotten?” he said.

“I do think we need to have higher fuel efficiency standards for motor vehicles,” he said.

Green Party candidate Steve Larrick stepped up to the podium next.

“I like the open discussion the film provided,” he said. “We do need to look at all of the issues.”

Larrick went to a more “green” side of the debate. He said the best thing to do is look at the options for cellulosic ethanol.

By ThisisBathco.uk

Hybrid electric cars and straw houses are just some of the solutions to global warming on show at the University of Bath.

The Sustainable Energy and the Environment showcase yesterday highlighted the latest research on reducing carbon emissions and saving the planet.

Researchers at the university have been looking into the use of hemp, timber and straw as building materials to help reduce the carbon footprint of the construction industry.

Director of the BRE centre for innovative construction materials, Professor Peter Walker, said: "The environmental impact of the construction industry is huge. For example, it is estimated that worldwide the manufacture of cement contributes up to 10 per cent of all industrial carbon dioxide emissions.

"We are looking at a variety of low-carbon building materials, including crop-based materials, innovative uses of traditional materials and developing low carbon cements and concretes to reduce impact of new infrastructure."

Another group of researchers is hoping to develop rechargeable batteries to improve hybrid cars.

Professor Saiful Islam, of the chemistry department, is researching new lighter, safer and more efficient alternatives.

His research recently won the Fuel Cell Science and Technology Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Professor Islam said: "Developing new materials holds the key to lighter and more efficient rechargeable batteries for hybrid electric cars, reducing our use of fossil fuels and cutting carbon emissions."

By Science Centric

The global problem of climate change will hit the spotlight on Wednesday 17 September as researchers from across the region meet for a showcase on environmental sustainability.

Experts in engineering, chemistry, architecture, physics and economics will join forces at the University of Bath to discuss the climate change challenge. They will host an exhibition of some of the region's cutting edge research in the fields of sustainable energy and the environment.

Wednesday's event will also see the launch of the new Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment (I-SEE) by David Willetts MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

Mitigating the effects of climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing science today due to the complex nature of the problem. The University of Bath's I-SEE will combine the expertise of world-class researchers from diverse disciplines of science, engineering, economics, management and social science to address the problem.

It will also study the socio-economic impacts of climate change, inform policy and provide technological solutions to mitigate the effects of global warming, helping the UK to achieve its target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by 2050.

Some of the institute's ground-breaking research will feature at the showcase.

Key research areas of the exhibition include:

- Future sources of energy including improved energy storage, low cost solar cells and hydrogen fuel production and storage.

By Green Experience

With oil prices constantly rising, the need for alternative energies is becoming greater and greater. In addition to the economic costs, the stress on the environment has been excessive, and climate change is becoming a very real threat. Therefore, we need to find a solution, and fast. Biofuels are popular, but the most utilized ones currently come from food crops, mainly corn. Using these kinds of crops for fuel reduces the overall food supply, raising prices and causing shortages. The best kind of biofuel is one that is not food, grows in abundance, and supplies large amounts of biomass. Surprisingly, the plant that fits all of these requirements is none other than hemp.

Hemp is the industrial version of the cannabis plant, and can be used in thousands of products, from paper to building materials. Most importantly, it can be converted in to fuel, and used for heating, transportation, and other energy needs. The specific process through which hemp fuel is made is pyrolysis, where high temperatures are applied to the plant in the absence of oxygen. This creates charcoal, which is a clean burning fuel that does not release sulfur (the primary cause of acid rain). Using adjusted methods, hemp can also be turned in to methanol and other oils.