Hemp vs. Corn

[VDub2625]

I know nothing on the subject. Give me pros, cons, for each, or the veggie industry in general. What about industries outside of biofuel? I do know that corn is derided by many and hemp is exalted by many others. Why is this? Go.

[eunos94]

Corn = Alcohol and Hemp = Marijuana. The difference between a drunk and a stoner is that the drunk will blow through a stop sign while the stoner sits there all night waiting for it to turn green.

I think the choice is clear as to which is the right choice for car enthusiasts.

[corrago]

Hemp holds the strongest fiber known to man, the hemp seed contains all 22 essential amino acids, and cannabis is one of the oldest, most versatile and safest known medicinal substances.

Hemp needs little to no pesticides to be grown.

Suffice to say that the agricultural industry is currently controlled by the chemical industry, and that's what makes hemp an enemy of the agricultural industry.

I'll expound on all of these later.

[bnortron113]

It seems like hemp is not widely used because the government can't find a way to control it.

[corrago]

It seems like hemp is not widely used because the corporations can't find a way to patent it.

ftfy - hemp is widely used internationally, and was much more widely used before the 1930's when the US set the precedent for the world to outlaw it. It has been known as cannabis sativa alternatively to and in conjunction with the name hemp.

[SebTheDJ]

ftfy - hemp is widely used internationally, and was much more widely used before the 1930's when the US set the precedent for the world to outlaw it. It has been known as cannabis sativa alternatively to and in conjunction with the name hemp.

Exactly.

Government is controlled by corporations anyway.

[Blonde Guy]

There's lots of better ways for us to make fuel. The corn boom is good for farmers, but the extra fertilizer is making a mess of the Mississippi delta waters and the Gulf of Mexico. Hemp is not currently used much for fuel, and I don't see how it would be that price competitive. Hemp seed is sold in health food stores and it's mighty expensive.

Vegetable oil is food, and used for deep frying. The used frier oil used in this country can and is being refined into biodiesel. At least where I live, pretty much all the used fry oil is collected and refined. Our local biodiesel refinery is expanding to more than double production.

Animal fat from meat processing is also a resource for biodiesel. Some of it was being mixed with animal feed, but now that is slowly changing to to go to refineries instead. Oil companies want the biodiesel because the new cleaner fuel, ULSD, needs additives, and biodiesel is a little cheaper than the chemicals they were using. As a result, pretty much all diesel we use is around one percent bio.

[corrago]

There's lots of better ways for us to make fuel. The corn boom is good for farmers, but the extra fertilizer is making a mess of the Mississippi delta waters and the Gulf of Mexico. Hemp is not currently used much for fuel, and I don't see how it would be that price competitive. Hemp seed is sold in health food stores and it's mighty expensive.

Hemp takes very little energy in the way of fertilizers and pesticides to grow.

The reason the hemp seed is so expensive in this country right now is because we're not allowed to grow it domestically, thus everything has to be imported.

Internationally, the rules around growing hemp are stringent, so the production is minimal.

Hemp would easily rise to be the dominant food, paper, fuel & cloth crop worldwide if the laws against its cultivation were removed.

A single plant can yield over 20,000 seeds.

[VDub2625]

Part of the reason for this thread was that hemp is often lauded as the miracle plant that can save us all. Corn is too. But both are supported by very different people with their own interests.

I'm interested in the facts about how easy they are to grow in comparison to each other, what they can yield, etc, both for fuel and general industry. I'm trying to avoid a government vs. hippies debate.

[2VWatatime]

You mean



vs


???

[roadtripper]

but to borrow on your crude analogy, this IS a gov't vs. hippies debate.

there is the idea of control, profit, ends justifying means, the research be damned. then there is the idea of freedom, natural selection, symbiosis, and sensibility.

guess which camp makes the laws and divvies up the trillion dollar "farm" subsidies?

you can try to frame this discussion however you want; hemp is not in use because people fear, condemn, and/or can't control the euphoric side effects it has on homo sapiens when its flowers are ingested. it really is that simple.

whatever its utility/promise/miracle, it is irrelevant. the overlords have already decided for you. reason is futile. now go get an internet degree, a lease payment or two, a bubble mortgage, a wallet full of plastic, several trunkfulls of processed goods, and start "contributing to society" like everyone else. maybe you can even "vote" for a "public servant" or two along the way.

[Churras]

What happens if this lotus catches fire ?

[AKADriver]

What happens if this lotus catches fire ?

Same thing if the panels were made out of traditional carbon fiber, or even aluminum.

[roadtripper]

you can get high from carbon fiber? wow, so that explains it.

yeah, obviously, industrial hemp does not contain any of the active ingredients its more carefully cultivated sisters are known for.

[firstorbit84]

First of all hemp is NOT marijuana, however industrial hemp production is outlawed in the US because the law considers hemp to be marijuana with no distinction between sub-species of cannabis. You will not get anything more than a headache from smoking hemp flowers, as they have little to no thc.

Hemp fibers as a commodity are protected under the UN and international trade laws, which is why you can buy hemp products in the US.

Canada and china, and many other countries have huge hemp production industries. We are missing out on a billion dollar or more industry that would bring many jobs to the US and boost the economy, simply because of a stupid cultural taboo and an unscientifically written anti-drug law.

Lawmakers don't want to discuss legalization of hemp production because they will always associate it with legalizing marijuana, and they don't want to open up the controlled substances act for revisions.

[DMACK]

I would so have a hose running out of my exhaust into my car if we fueled with cannabis. jus sayin!

[corrago]

First of all hemp is NOT marijuana, however industrial hemp production is outlawed in the US because the law considers hemp to be marijuana with no distinction between sub-species of cannabis. You will not get anything more than a headache from smoking hemp flowers, as they have little to no thc.

Hemp fibers as a commodity are protected under the UN and international trade laws, which is why you can buy hemp products in the US.

Canada and china, and many other countries have huge hemp production industries. We are missing out on a billion dollar or more industry that would bring many jobs to the US and boost the economy, simply because of a stupid cultural taboo and an unscientifically written anti-drug law.

Lawmakers don't want to discuss legalization of hemp production because they will always associate it with legalizing marijuana as they're told to by the corporate , to detract from the true purpose of covering up the huge amount of chemical. That are necessary to support big ag in the form of fertilizers and pesticides for corn and cotton, and they don't want to open up the can of worms that is the truth, and that they've been hiding for years in a box called 'substance abuse'

Feels like I'm going to be doing a lot of fixing today.

[VDub2625]

but to borrow on your crude analogy, this IS a gov't vs. hippies debate.

I have my own beliefs on this subject, however I'm trying to keep it neutral and just work on the facts, in particular, how much worse is corn than hemp? Are either better suited to biofuel, stripping away the extra benefit from other hemp products? I'd like to explore all of these issues. So far, all I hear is "govt bad, hemp good", and while I tend to agree with that, the people telling me these facts have their motives, which is why I'm trying to get past the politics.

Can industrial hemp be "bred back" to encourage more THC? What about a marijuana/hemp hybrid that could pass undetected as hemp plants? Any of this possible?

[Shooting Brake]

There's also the whole hemp vs trees for paper issue. Hemp makes better paper, using a fraction of the land, obviously grows far faster, and requires less chemicals for processing, not to mention we get to keep our forests.

[leaftye]

It seems like hemp is not widely used because the corporations can't find a way to patent it.

BS

They can absolutely patent it if they modified it, just like any GMO does with their products.

[vwtuner4ever]

Can industrial hemp be "bred back" to encourage more THC? What about a marijuana/hemp hybrid that could pass undetected as hemp plants? Any of this possible?

Who cares anyway (other than the governement)? Tobacco is legal. Alcool is legal. Tons of dangerous medications are legal. They are all a lot worst for you than pot. The only reason pot was made illegal was to send Hippies to jail during Vietnam war... so they would stop protesting. As long as the governement stays narrow minded, things will stay the same. It will probably take a couple generations to change. Governement could simply give permit to a few producers to sell an end product. They could still prohibit the plant itself to be in the population's hands. But governements don't think that way, they only see black and white.

[corrago]

Can industrial hemp be "bred back" to encourage more THC? What about a marijuana/hemp hybrid that could pass undetected as hemp plants? Any of this possible?

To the first, yes it can. That's where "industrial hemp" came from - it is a strain or "phenotype" of Cannabis Sativa that has been bred to be low not only in THC, but CBDs, CBNs and other cannabinoids.

No hybrid could pass as a hemp plant, I don't believe, because it cannot be free from cannabinoids and still have medicinal or psychoactive value, because that is the source of said medicinal compounds.

I'll expound on the more complicated items about corn vs. hemp re: food, biofuel, etc. later.

[VDub2625]

Governement could simply give permit to a few producers to sell an end product. They could still prohibit the plant itself to be in the population's hands. But governements don't think that way, they only see black and white.

I'm gonna be nice and ignore the rather ranty first part of your post but they already do this with coca leaves...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepan_Company
Did I just blow your mind?

[2VWatatime]

BTW - what has this to do w/the Car Lounge? Are the mods recovering from Mother's Day?

[VDub2625]

BTW - what has this to do w/the Car Lounge? Are the mods recovering from Mother's Day?

Biofuel was my original intent but it does encompass a broad range of topics.

[dub01]

The only reason pot was made illegal was to send Hippies to jail during Vietnam war... so they would stop protesting.

Do a little research. Marijuana was made illegal in the 30s. Also, in 1967 there was a period of time when it became legal due to a lag in change of laws.

[Barefoot_]

I would so have a hose running out of my exhaust into my car if we fueled with cannabis. jus sayin!

heh... not quite what you are describing, but you get the picture

[JLJetta]

It merely is a method to disguise the wealth redistribution to the political donors $$$.

[90 GT-G60]

Biofuel was my original intent but it does encompass a broad range of topics.

What about cane?

The sugar variety

Just saw a Modern Marvels rerun on the sugar industry and they touted Brazil as a leader in breaking it's dependency on fossil fuels by generating a rather large percent of biofuel from sugar.

[OrangeA4]

We should get some kickstarter money and fund a TCL patented GMO strain of hemp that is really fibrous, has no leaves and produces 40,000 seeds per plant.

Produce, Patent, Profit, Puff, Puff, Pass

sounds like a stoner idea

[VDub2625]

What about cane?

The sugar variety

Just saw a Modern Marvels rerun on the sugar industry and they touted Brazil as a leader in breaking it's dependency on fossil fuels by generating a rather large percent of biofuel from sugar.

We could never do that here, were way too dependent on cheap sugar and it's not as easy to grow as in Brazil, haha.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[corrago]

We could never do that here, were way too dependent on cheap sugar and it's not as easy to grow as in Brazil, haha.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

Part of why hemp is perfect for us, as well as part of why it's illegal.

[eunos94]

I always suspected that the C in TCL secretly stood for conspiracy.

[2VWatatime]

I always suspected that the C in TCL secretly stood for conspiracy.

Nah. Cannabis. As in "duuuuuuuuuude"

Oh, and this is about biofuel? riiiiiiight...

[BsickPassat]

Corn = Alcohol and Hemp = Marijuana. The difference between a drunk and a stoner is that the drunk will blow through a stop sign while the stoner sits there all night waiting for it to turn green.

I think the choice is clear as to which is the right choice for car enthusiasts.

Hemp seeds, as already mentioned, have great nutritional value for human consumption.

And... you can make Hemp biodiesel. Too bad you can't get high off of the fumes.

http://www.hempcar.org/