Ethanol Mandate for Iowa?

On Fri, 30 Sep 2005 19:12:12 -0400, W P Dixon wrote:

Where does all this hemp info come from?


I'm not sure I understand your question properly, but I'll take a stab at
it. Industrial hemp is not pot. Pot can be used as hemp. Hemp is not
normally used as pot. In fact, smoking hemp normally provides a killer
headache and no high. As such, hemp is grown just as any other plant.
Hemp is related to (its in the same family) but is not the exact same
plant(s) as it traditionally grown for recreational use. Industrial hemp
has something like 0.3% THC. There are now industrial hemp seeds available
which can grow hemp which contains 0.0% THC.

Those that believe hemp = pot are victems of misinformation spread by
those involved with oil, cotton, and plastics. Feel free to do some quick
checking on the 'net. You'll be amazed at how much misinformation you
have been given your entire life on the subject.


Greg


Patrick
student SP
aircraft structural mech

"Greg Copeland" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 27 Sep 2005 18:45:48 -0500, Dan Engleman wrote:

So......my not so valuable opinion is that we should encourage all our
legislators to pass legislation requiring us to be energy independent
within a few years. Ethanol is a large part of that.

Only if you want to pay more for fuel. Ethanol makes absolutely no
economical sense at all. Ethanol always has been about politics, plain
and simple. Our great goverment pays farmers to grow corn to make
ethanol. It then takes more energy to produce ethanol than what we get
out of it. Then, they turn around and sell it, at a premium price no
less. Proponents of corn-ethanol expansion fall into three categories.
One, the uninformed. Two, farmers. Three, politicians that cater to
farms.

Building an energy economy on corn-ethanol makes as much sense as building
an energy economy on fusion. At least fusion *may* pay off one day. On
the other hand, if they want to shift America's corn growers to
hemp...then I'll shutup and let them do something that might actually make
sense.

A typical hemp crop (which is not the same thing as pot; you can't get
high from it) yields roughly 3x more per year of ethanol than what corn
does. That makes it roughly 1-2 times more profitable and requires no
government handouts. Hemp does not require nearly as much water as corn,
making it drought resistant. Can you imagine a drought hitting the US and
our fuel prices going up 10x? That's the future of a corn-based fuel
economy. Hemp is insect resistant and requires no insecticides; unlike
corn, which requires a lot. Hemp can make industrial oils and lubricants,
clothes, and of course rope. Hemp can be eaten, and can be used as a food
filler. Hemp-ethanol does not contribute to carbon emissions anywhere near
the same degree corn-ethanol does. This is because you actually get more
energy out of a hemp-ethanol based economy than you do out of a
corn-ethanol economy. Surprising, hemp can replace corn in almost every
way, with on possible exception, flavor. I have no idea how hemp oils
compare to corn oils in flavor.

Greg