Biomass

There is no need for North America to be dependent on the oil industry to produce oil, from which we produce methane, ethanol or gasoline (at a cost that I believe would be lower than the present price we are now paying for gasoline). Industrial Hemp is the number one producer of biomass per acre in the world! The worlds production of biomass is estimated to be 146 billion metric tons a year. The production of biomass fuels can provide all of our oil, our coal energy needs, gasoline, and hemp is much better for the environment!

In the United States this would require that six percent of its land mass be put into cultivation for industrial hemp. This would supply all of the current demands for oil, coal and fuels without adding any carbon monoxide to the atmosphere. To supply all of Canada's biomass needs it has been estimated that if we grew one and a half million acres to three and a half million acres we could replace all of Canad's fossil fuel demands.

Why should we do this? Well it's better for the environment, mankind and all of nature's animals.
Hemp fuel burns clean, oil products cause acid rain due to sulphur pollution. Industrial Hemp does not contribute to global warming, in fact it would reduce global warming by converting CO2 into oxygen during the growing cycle, when burnt it releases it back into the environment. - (A closed carbon cycle). One tank of (fossil fuel) gasoline generates up to 400 pounds of CO2.

There is no need for Industrial Hemp to compete with food crops for the most productive land. It can be grown without fertilizer and needs no pesticides, it is drought resistant, it is well suited to be grown on marginal land where food crops production isn't profitable. Hemp biomass farms would end our dependency for foreign oil, stop soil erosion caused by fertilizers and pesticides, reduce acid rain, air pollution and global warming. It would also generate thousands of new jobs!

Facts to Consider:

• Each acre of Industrial hemp yields 10 tons of biomass (1,000 gallon of methanol with a higher octane rating) in four months.

• Hemps long taproot improves soil quality and helps with stopping soil erosion.

• Exhaust emissions of carbon monoxide from bio-diesel are 47 percent lower than carbon monoxide emissions from diesel. - (Potential cancer causing compounds).

• Hemp is the only biomass resource capable of making North America energy independent.

• Hemp contains 80 percent cellulose; wood 60 percent cellulose, hemp grows in 4 months, trees take 20 to 30 years.
  

• Hemp can produce 10 times more ethanol than corn. Note: Because of the rising demand for ethanol, American farmers are growing more corn. Millions of pounds of nitrogen based fertilizer needed by corn growers is going down the Mississippi and into the gulf where it creates a 7,900 square mile "dead zone". This area is so devoid of oxygen that fish die, crabs and shrimp suffocate. Associated Press, Dec.17, 2007.
  

• Its time for the U.S. to suspend its marijuana prohibition, the false misrepresentations of the past cannot be allowed to cause us to stumble at a time when we need Industrial Hemp to save our planet from the abuses it has taken in the past! Now is the time to act in a positive, pro-active manner.

We are entering a time when many of us will be asked to join in this emerging concept of "Energy Farming", where farmers grow and harvest their crop of Industrial Hemp that will be converted into fuels. It will help us become independent of foreign oil, it will help us heal our planet and ourselves from potential cancer causing particulates and pollution caused by fossil fuels. It is something to look forward to!