JJ>What do you think of the bio-mass energy concept, not just hemp...  I
JJ>did a research project on it in college, about 6 years ago, and am sure
JJ>new information has come out since then that I don't know about.  To
JJ>summarize, I believed that bio-mass was a great replacement for fossil
JJ>fuels and that hemp was a strong runner up for best plant for it, behind
JJ>sugar beets and the grain families.
       Several strong candidates, all with potential shorcomings.  I 
investigated sugar beets, came to the conclusion that although it was a 
nearly ideal alcohol feedstock, it was too labor intensive.  Grain was good, 
except that yields weren't nearly good enough for
economical production, and required too much chemistry.  Fortunately enough 
grain can be diverted short-term to fill spot markets in ethanol, but the 
bulk of the current production is already spoken for.  At the rate viable 
farmland is being converted into development tracts, no new production 
capacity is forseen.  In fact, factoring that rate and others, some have come 
to the conclusion that *soon* we will no longer have the capability to feed 
ourselves.  Soon is measured in more than 5 decades.
       Hemp, OTOH, can readily be converted into methanol via high 
temperature decomposition on a local basis (ie, avoiding long trucking hauls, 
creating local job opportunities), and additionally generates byproducts 
useful in other industries.
       Hemp biodigester output is not something I studied closely. Cellulose 
is fairly tough to utilize in that situation, but I had read about some 
enzymes that would help out.  There, the output gas is methane, among other 
things.
JJ>Has anybody been continuing the R&D on vegetable oil burning engines?  I
JJ>remember Gatewood Galbraith, who ran for Gov. of Ky in the late 80's
JJ>early 90's, campaigned across KY in a mercedes diesel that ran on hemp
JJ>oil and was called the "Hemp-mobile."
       ANY diesel engine will run on vegetable oil, so there isn't much in 
the way of research to do, except for finding the right injector orfice size. 
 I'd be interested in figures relating to hemp oil production on a per-acre 
basis so that some sort of spreadsheet analysis could be done. Generally, 
vegetable oils are considered too costly to use as a fuel source, but that 
could change.
JJ>Cotton is a better fiber for clothes and paper but you can't eat it,
       Properly treated hemp is actually just as soft as cotton - and you 
just can't beat hemp paper.  I have 100 year old newspaper clippings printed 
on hemp paper that appear to be just as tough as the day they were made.  
Other woodpulp paper clippings that I have, some 70-80 years old, some only 
20, are too delicate to handle.
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