The Future of Fuel

The Future of Fuel

Since the beginning of automotive transportation, fuel has always been a broad topic. From fossil fuel to bio diesel, new ideas are a never ending. However, old ideas have been known to shed light on newer problems. An older idea that has a lot of potential is hemp fuel. Also known as Cannabis Sativa, industrial hemp was wildly popular in the early 1900's. The uses for industrial hemp go on and on. Paper, lantern oil, medicine, and clothing fabric are just tips of an iceberg. Grown from almost any soil, abundance of the crop wouldn't be a problem. The only problem lies within the government, which has made growing this precious crop illegal. Having industrial hemp legalized to grow in The United States again is a stimulus this country needs. In more ways than one, growing industrial hemp should be a one's right to cultivate in any state.

Lack of the plant's abundance is the major problem today. While importing and exporting hemp isn't illegal, trading doesn't bring in as much of the crop needed to make a difference in the production of hemp fuel. If the hemp was made legal to grow, actual progress would be made in the way of having a huge alternative fuel at our country's disposal. After many tests, hemp was discovered to have the highest energy efficiency out of many other biogases (Barta et al. 1). Having a type of biogas that efficient would drive down the need to foreign oil, thus dropping the price of fuel by a significant margin. However, the only way to eliminate such high prices with gas now is to start growing hemp again. There is no reason to be wasting one of the most useful plants known to man.

While some crops can only be grown in certain seasons of the year, industrial hemp can stand harsher environments than regular crops such as tobacco or corn. The abnormal strength of hemp makes growing in most states easy. The soil hemp is grown in doesn't have to be as fertile as soils major cash crops are grown in, which makes the search for open land much less of a problem. For instance, North Dakota has a state interest in growing hemp as an alternative cash crop. Even while having such a cold climate, North Dakota would still be able to grow hemp easily.

There is lack in hemp processing mills within the United States, which can pose a problem. However, there is a temporary and permanent solution to such a dilemma. Canada will soon have facilities with the capabilities to produce hemp products (Kraenzel, David G., et al. 1); however, Canada's facilities would only provide a temporary fix to the Unites States' shortage of industrial hemp mills. The permanent fix would be to eventually have mills built within the states, which would also create more jobs. Having all the materials and resources makes production of hemp fuel all the more manageable.

Another concern alternative fuel production faces today is legalization in federal or state law. While state law makes growing of hemp legal, federal law still makes it technically illegal. If the federal government were to pass a law that made production of hemp legal throughout the nation, more citizens would be encouraged to grow industrial hemp. Having more producers is always a good for abundance in resources. Federal law also would also tax the revenue at a steeper rate, which may sound bad at first. However, a steeper taxation develops a stronger stimulus to the government over time.

The few studies that have been done over biogas made by hemp were proven very successful. Hemp has been discovered to be one of the most efficient energy crops known to man (Barta et al. Biotechnology for Biofuels 1). 84% of the maximum energy efficiency was reached with industrial hemp fuel alone. Compared to other fuels like Ethanol, electricity, and propane, biogas was proven to be highly efficient against its competitors (Barta et al. Biotechnology for Biofuels 5). Having such positive effects with minimal testing, the outlook on future biofuel technology looks bright.

Every day engines that burn fossil fuels emit harmful chemicals into the air. Those chemicals harm the environment and animals around them. Unheard of records of smog pollute the air, which diminishes the ozone layer. Burning biofuel instead of fossil fuel would put a halt to the record-breaking emission excess (Ozollapins et al. "Stalk Biomass Drying Rate Evaluation." 1). There will be cleaner air for the future generations to breath. The youth of America shouldn't have to grow up living in smog, and if the way things are now don't change, they will continue to live in filth.

The great thing about biofuel is that the product can be used in more than one way. The way it's used is also the cleanest way. No greenhouse emission is produced by any appliance while being fueled by said product. Biofuel can be used to power household heaters, ovens, and other appliances that run off propane as of now. If hemp was to become legal, heating in houses would become much more affordable due to the abundance of the crop. Even larger buildings such as power plants or factories could be powered by biofuel. Having an energy grown from the ground has so many more perks than just having more pollution by fossil fuels. Cars are not the only thing that will be powered by the Earth.

Cannabis Sativa has proven itself to be one of the most useful plants on the planet; however, people may be scared by the name. Hemp is a close cousin to the Cannabis plant, which may scare a few people. Although hemp is a close genus to the nirvana inducing plant, Cannabis Sativa is not smoked to obtain a high.