Current and Experimental Uses of Hemp in Manufacturing and Tech Industry

Hemp is a plant with thousands of uses from oils and fibers through to animal bedding and nutritional supplement. Hemp is probably the oldest domesticated known crop known to man and is well documented in history books for its importance as an agricultural crop up and until the mid-20th century. In this article, we look at the hemp industry history, future, and value of the hemp plant to humankind, in the 21st century!

Growing hemp as nature designed it is vital to our urgent need to reduce greenhouse gases and ensure the survival of our plant – Jack Herer

Hemp ( cannabis sativa .L ) is a variety of cannabis plant that produces less than 0.03% Tetrahydrocannabinol ( THC ). It is genetically different from other cannabis varieties as it largely contains the cannabinoid, Cannabidiol ( CBD ). CBD has been big news in recent years in the medical industry as its a non-toxic, non-psychoactive, relatively free from any side-effects medicine that can be grown and processed at home. Historically hemp has been grown primarily for its fibers and oils, while marijuana has been grown for its mild narcotic effect.

The Hemp Industry

The hemp industry is winning a battle that started in the early 1900’s when Cannabis was seen as a threat to bigger competing industries such as the tobacco and oil giants as well as competition in the agriculture industry. In 1937 the United States Marijuana Tax act enforced draconian cannabis laws, including all cannabis varieties, that strictly regulated cultivation and possession of cannabis. In 1970, The Controlled Substances Act identified hemp as a Schedule 1 drug. This was overseen by the Nixon Administration who also started the failed campaign of “The War on Drugs”, which was largely targeted at “marijuana”.

Since then, marijuana and hemp have been confused, misidentified and interchangeably used as a gateway to drugs, with no real benefit to industry or people. Although cannabis laws have been relaxed in over half of American States for medical and recreational use to date, federal laws still block the full potential of the United States cannabis industry. Since 2014 and the implementation of the Farm Bill, States with hemp legislation have been researching and developing a framework for a new hemp industry.

Currently, America consumes well over half a billion dollars of hemp products each year.

Most of the final hemp products are imported from other countries mainly, China, Canada, and Eastern European countries. China accounts for 1/5 of the current world’s production of hemp raw materials and products. Since 1994 Canada has been developing a hemp industry under strict regulations and licenses. It now has a strong industry that supplies, medical and industrial products domestically and internationally. Countries like Hungary, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa and many others are redeveloping and reintroducing hemp as a viable commercial crop.

With the world moving towards more environmentally friendly and conscious products, many have seen the benefits of building with hemp. In 2015, Nick Voase a farmer from Baswick in the United Kingdom literally built his own hemp house after growing hemp on 300 acres of land. The project was started accidentally when searching for a viable break crop, hemp turned out to be the best option, now Nick and his family have a very valuable house.

South Africa has been developing the hemp plant for well over 20 years and products such as hemp insulation, hemp oils and fabrics have been developed as prototypes over this time. Many houses have been built using hemp, but one such house is found in Cape Town, South Africa, is almost entirely built out of hemp or a composite of hemp. The hemp-based building material is an ecologically responsible alternative to typical traditional toxic concrete. Hemp, on the other hand, makes for an eco-friendly, sustainable natural construction alternative, and it even offers benefits that traditional concrete can’t provide. Tony Budden, a pioneer of hemp and founder of Hemporium, started the project, “The House that Hemp Built”, in 2010 and completed building within one year.

“After nearly a century of dormant progress in the hemp industry while it was nearly impossible to do research on cannabis in any form, we are seeing a massive surge in the variety of products available and new product development. If you look at the huge leaps in technology in every other sector over the last technology and realise that hemp was largely left out of it until very recently, you can expect to see even more amazing products be developed from this resource once it is made openly available to researchers and product developers. For what is already recognized as one of the most versatile resources on earth, this is an incredibly exciting time as we see even more uses become evident, benefiting both humans and the planet.” – Tony Budden

Just a little further north on the coast of Natal in South Africa, Chipp Williams from South Coast Surfboards has been developing his range of hemp technologies. Chipp has been shaping surfboards using hemp/carbon inlays and coating them with hemp outer skins for many years now. Seasoned surfer veterans such as Gary Howells have responded claiming their new green boards are stronger, faster and lighter. Chipp has further developed scuba fins which are a combo of 34% hemp and 66% carbon, providing the thrust of carbon blades while hemp eliminating the major weakness of carbon, that is being brittle and susceptible to damage from impact.

Some of the most important research and development projects in hemp technologies are in the medical industry. With cannabis laws relaxing around the world and easier access to quality hemp raw materials, scientists are researching new delivery mechanisms, processing, and concentrations of cannabis. Standardization is one big requirement in the field as patients and doctors are mostly still in the dark as to contaminates and volume of cannabinoids in hemp extracts. As processing, extraction and delivery methods are developed further people in need will have a better idea as to the cannabis medicines and cannabinoid profiles that work for them.

“Because all these technologies can be replicated in an individual home, it also is a game changer in that a sustainable food as medicine system can be employed in an individual home, or in much smaller growers collectives, which can reorient the production system and make high-quality healing foods available to many more people without the high regulation and waste of our modern medical system.” Rien Havens

With hemp and cannabis almost being lost from our modern civilization we are making great strides in our society benefit from this plant with an almost unlimited amount of applications. If you are interested in new hemp technologies it would be a good start to read up on Hemp plastics (3d printing and injection moulding),Hemp biocomposites (including surfboards), supercapacitors aswell as acoustic insulation in boats. These are just a few leading edge technologies being developed using hemp as its primary source. One thing hemp can’t do is make you high!