Sustainable Growth

Sustainable growth is going to take a reworking of our development patterns, construction materials and mobility options. Hemp has properties that make it useful for a variety of purposes. One of the greatest fighting chances we have to absorb population growth while taking environmental impacts into consideration is an expedited use of hemp based farming and manafacturing.

Earth is in one of its most vulnerable conditions in our recorded history. Much of this is due to human activity, but it’s not necessarily our activity as much as it is the choices we make in the materials we’ve used in manufacturing.

What Can We Do Different?

One of the most pertinent objectives we should take into consideration is the amount of carbon put into the atmosphere.

There are a couple different human oriented activities that we could rethink in what role we play in generating carbon. One is construction and the other is transportation.

Hemp happens to be a solution that addresses problems created by both of these scenarios, and it absorbs more carbon in its growth cycle than any other tree or plant on Earth. It can be processed and utilized in hundreds of different products.

1 acre of Industrial Hemp absorbs ~40,000lbs (~2 metric tons) of C02 in only 3-4 months of growing. * Industrial Hemp Takes 3 months to mature vs trees taking 20-80 years !!! * 1 acre of Hemp fiber equals 6-10 acres of trees. - hemptechglobal.com

Hemp For Housing

For housing hemp can be processed into hempcrete for structural purposes, hemp fiber for insulation or 3D printer feedstock to create whatever design component imaginable.

It is fire resistant, pest resistant and mold resistant making it one of the most resourceful building materials available to us. The thermal properties of a properly constructed hemp structure are phenomenal. During the cooler months heat is retained and during the warmer months the interior temperature remains constant without excessively using an air conditioning unit.

Another benefit is the permeability of hemp construction. Moisture is able to be absorbed and released when necessary, and since the lime binder is antimicrobial and antifungal this prevents mold from developing where traditional materials would.

Hemp For Transportation

Hemp products for transportation are a revolutionary idea in this day in age, but it’s not exactly new. Henery Ford produced a hemp vehicle in 1941. Hemp bioplastics are 10 times stronger than steel and lighter by weight. This amounts to a safer mode of transportation with an increase in fuel economy. Weather by land or air that means we’ll get where we’re going faster and with a better environmental footprint.

Manufacturing methods and materials aren’t the only transportation solution hemp solves. Hemp can also be processed into a biofuel. The fuel burns cleaner then petroleum-based fuel and does not contain any sulfur. When compared to other biofuels like corn or sugar, there are some additional benefits when managing the growth of the crop, hemp requires significantly less pest control chemicals and fertilizers.

If we’re serious about the future of our children we must act now to circumvent the worst impacts created by human activity.

Watch Amy Ansel deliver her TED Talk about the benefits of Hemp.