What do you think about hemp for production of ethanol ?
Sunday, September 28th, 2008
After spending the last 6 years answering all kinds of questions about renewable fuels, I thought I’d put my blog into action and answer some of the most common questions I have been asked from all kinds of people, with different political views and backgrounds.
This question…hemp for ethanol production begs for some backing up to really flush out the need for everyone to be on the same page with what biofuels are:
Biofuels is a name given to any fuel made from renewable resources such as plants, waste, and the sun. The term biofuels usually refers to the liquid fuel market leaving natural gas, propane, electricity, etc. out of the disucssion.
Here is a quick map to better understand biofuels (a term used to commonly refer to Ethanol).
Our world is a world addicted to liquid fuel. While there are many questions about what is the right fuel to use (I’ll handle that question in a later blog titled “which one”) The key to answering the hemp for ethanol production question is to discover that:
There are commonly two types of engines that use liquid fuel: Gas and Diesel
Each engine has their perspective renewable fuel: Ethanol and Biodiesel
Each renewable fuel has a specific medium to make it: Sugar/ Starch and Vegetable Oil/Animal Fat
Each Medium has its feedstock: Ethanol (Corn, Sugar beets, jerusalem artichokes, etc) Biodiesel (soy oil, Waste restaurant oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, animal fat, etc.)
In remembering how good my cereal tastes with Hemp protein on it and that there is a hemp oil, my response is that I think that with the current state of hemp being illegal it would prove better to use the hemp plant for all of its protein and fiber quality rather than making alternative fuel out of it. In 2005, I saw my first veggie oil conversion on a diesel and they were driving around the US on Hemp oil, shipped in from Canada. So the reality is that with Hemp being so controlled it would be too expensive to make ethanol from Hemp in this current state of legality. However, if there is a way to produce fiber for clothing, food, and other products from Hemp and there was leftover material there is a chance that a new process called cellulosic ethanol (not even launched yet) would be able to take all the Hemp material not already used and convert it into sugars to process it into an alcohol.
Thank you for your question and feel free to send more…Betty Biodiesel