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| Posted By | Discussion Topic: Hemp Hemp Hooray! | ||||
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| spitfire421 | posted on 07-30-2001 @ 11:40 AM |    | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Dec. 00  | From the Chicago Tribune Holy smoke! A car that runs on hemp By Rick Popely Tribune staff reporter July 29, 2001 Hemp, a plant banned in the U.S. because it is related to marijuana, could be the diesel fuel of the future. That is the vision of Grayson Sigler and a group that calls itself Hemp Car Transamerica, which is in Chicago this weekend touting industrial hemp as a source of biodiesel fuel and consumer products. The vehicle for demonstrating hemp as a fuel source is a 1983 Mercedes-Benz 300TD, a station wagon with a turbocharged diesel engine that runs on 100 percent hemp oil. The Hemp Car stopped Saturday at Eco'Fields, a Near North Side store that sells hemp products and will be displayed Sunday near Buckingham Fountain as part of a 10,000-mile tour of North America that began July 4 in Washington, D.C. Sigler says the Mercedes wagon gets 27 miles per gallon on the highway with hemp-based biodiesel, same as it would on No. 2 diesel fuel, the kind you get from gas station pumps. The only engine modifications he made use synthetic hoses in place of natural rubber ones, which the vegetable oil in biodiesel damages. Federal regulations prohibit growing industrial hemp. Illinois is among several states considering producing it for commercial purposes, which would require permission from the federal government. Hawaii is the only state currently studying hemp production. Legislation authorizing the University of Illinois to study the production and commercial use of industrial hemp was passed by the Illinois General Assembly in June and sent to Gov. George Ryan. The governor has not acted on the bill, though he vetoed similar legislation previously. Hemp is grown in Canada, Europe and China and used in several consumer products, including clothing, cosmetics and paper. Sigler says hemp oil is a renewable substitute for petroleum fuels that provides similar performance and economy with reduced emissions. "If we raised hemp on 6 percent of the land in the U.S., we could provide all of the fuel we need for power generation and transportation," Sigler said in a phone interview from Canada. Government fears that growing industrial hemp will encourage marijuana use are misguided, he says. Though the two plants are related, hemp has only traces of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that gets users high. The Illinois bill defines industrial hemp as having 0.3 percent or less of THC, and it directs the U. of I. to study the development of hemp with zero THC. "It's not a drug. You could smoke a boatload of it and die of asphyxiation long before you would feel anything from it," he says. "There's more arsenic in broccoli than there is THC in hemp." Hemp oil is not volatile like petroleum fuels and is non-toxic, "so you can drink it," Sigler says. Al Hansen, a University of Illinois agricultural engineering professor who studies alternative diesel fuels, says that, "technically, it probably is feasible" to use hemp as a diesel additive or replacement. Soybean oil, which is the source of about 90 percent of the biodiesel nationally, is a more logical choice in Illinois, Hansen said. The state led the nation in soybean production last year at 459.8 million bushels. Adding vegetable oils to diesel fuel lowers particulate emissions, the sooty black smoke that is common on diesel vehicles, but Hansen said how it affects nitrogen oxides emissions is still under study. Aside from legal issues, Hansen sees the cost of processing hemp or other vegetable oil into ethanol or methanol before it is added to diesel fuel as a major obstacle. "The question always comes down to economics," said Hansen. "Even if it costs a few cents more per gallon, there may be some resistance to buying it, even with lower emissions." Sigler, however, says the cost of processing hemp into methanol or ethanol is minimal. If the government allowed growing hemp on a national basis, he estimated the cost of the biodiesel could come down to 20 to 50 cents per gallon (not including state and federal taxes). Jenna Higgins, a spokeswoman for the National Biodiesel Board, says biodiesel fuels are more expensive than straight diesel, but the price varies by the area of the country and availability. "Fossil fuel is cheap now. The price of petroleum diesel will probably go up, and the price of biodiesel will come down" as production increases, Higgins said. "That underscores the need for a domestically produced, renewable resource." The National Biodiesel Board has not tested hemp as a biodiesel fuel, which Higgins says is "very much a novelty." The organization is "feedstock neutral," so it doesn't recommend one source over another. "It can be done," Higgins says of hemp. "Biodiesel can be made from any fats or oils. You can even use recycled restaurant grease--the oil from the french fry vat." Hemp-based biodiesel would eliminate a key objection to regular diesel fuel--the foul smell. Sigler describes hemp oil as "pungent," the same term that commonly describes marijuana. "In a blind smell test most people wouldn't think it was marijuana. It's mildly similar to burning leaves," he said. "I think a majority would identify it with a barbecue smell." :)  Will the soul survive ultimately Oh, will peace ever be found When I drag my feet on hallowed ground I don't wanna know what the future will hold I don't wanna pray cause I'm lost anyway I have adopted lunababe and graffixrulz into the School of Altered Reality[Email]spitfire@opieanthony.com">E-Mail Me | ||||
| Cap'n Fudge | posted on 07-30-2001 @ 11:47 AM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Oct. 00 | Cheech and Chong: Automotive prophets? I hate this job! I hate this goddamn job and I don't need it!!!  capnfudge@opieanthony.com People say that I neglect my responsibilities But I don't mind cause I'll live longer. Need Adoption??? Now accepting applications for the crew. | ||||
| Doc Smith I Love Anthony Zinni | posted on 07-30-2001 @ 12:06 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Sep. 00 | quote: Whoa...remind me to lay off the broccoli  I can levitate birds. No one cares. | ||||
| IkeaBoy P.L.F. Portugese Liberation Front- Liberating Status' everywhere from the Tyranny of Portugal I will die a traitor's death | posted on 07-30-2001 @ 12:21 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Veteran Registered: Sep. 00 | The car starts to run then just gets lazy after half a mile. Does anyone else imagine something like in The Simpsons with the "Alcohol powered car" and homer imagining "one for me, one for you" except with bong hits. The narrator in Fight Club is the man we will be, Patrick Bateman in American Psycho is the man we want to be Eliza Dushku- Hotter Than Britney | ||||
| WoundedAngel Absolutely spectacular, and 1337 as hell. | posted on 07-30-2001 @ 1:59 PM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Jan. 01 | Aaah..hemp! I love it! I can be used for practically anything! I recently also heard of a story about a guy who has his Volkswagen Rabbit wired to run on vegetable oil. Supposedly, when the oil burns, it smells like french fries.  | ||||
| Metalfan | posted on 07-30-2001 @ 2:08 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Sep. 00 | Spit...and you wonder why all outside references to you (ie Movies or songs) all relate to drugs, huh? ;-) E-Mail Me  Don't fear the reaper.... Psycho Bitch may now wander the land at her own risk. | ||||
| Corpsegrinderjunk | posted on 07-30-2001 @ 2:14 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Veteran Registered: Aug. 00 | All I want to know is when can I get one here!! Why fucking bother "Think before you write" - Froy E-Mail Me | ||||
| spitfire421 | posted on 07-30-2001 @ 2:31 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Dec. 00 | quote: Yup, just trying to live up to my image lol Seriously, though, hemp is one of the greatest natural resources we have. It can save billions of trees if it was used to make paper using a lot smaller area to grow, and it could even replace plastic...gee, wonder why it's illegal to grow now? I bet DuPont would be pissed and their pockets run rather deep. It used to be that farmers in the US were required to grow hemp, legal tender meant hemp. Will the soul survive ultimately Oh, will peace ever be found When I drag my feet on hallowed ground I don't wanna know what the future will hold I don't wanna pray cause I'm lost anyway I have adopted lunababe and graffixrulz into the School of Altered Reality[Email]spitfire@opieanthony.com">E-Mail Me | ||||
This status is sponsored by: P®oJë©T M@¥hέm I Mod VG's ass! | posted on 07-30-2001 @ 3:00 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Oct. 00 | Cool... I want one of these cars...any chance I can have it put under the body of a 1969 Road Runner? anyway, Spit...you forgot to mention that all of your posts toaday are brought to us by the letters T H & C and the number 420  Professional Slacker I should get paid for this crap... | ||||
| WoundedAngel Absolutely spectacular, and 1337 as hell. | posted on 07-30-2001 @ 11:06 PM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Jan. 01 | quote: Yep! I'm sure we would not have been too sucessful in the Revolutionary War without rope to use on boats, sails...ect. Everyone by law was required to grow hemp - as it was how the strongest ropes were made. LOL I just realized this is my 420th post!! How perfect!!! This message was edited by WoundedAngel on 7-30-01 @ 11:08 PM | ||||
| JohnSlack | posted on 07-31-2001 @ 11:52 AM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: May. 01 | Its so ridiculous that hemp is outlawed..it doesn't contain enough THC to get you high, and its so versatle. Its the wacko anti-drug propaganda machine that has fueled this type of thinking..just like DARE.. For example: Kindest Regards, Your Name | ||||
| Shelle Bink True star of the celebrity softball game: the redhead in section 101. | posted on 07-31-2001 @ 12:33 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Jul. 01 | There's more arsenic in broccoli than there is THC in hemp Ever notice how Broccoli looks like lil.... lil trees??  | ||||
Displaying 1-12 of 12 messages in this thread. |