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Fibre AlternativesIndustrial Hemp

Sustainability Report

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By David Seber

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This is an alarm bell sounding! A call to action!

Our Planet is in jeopardy! Our lives are at stake!

Even our jobs…

OH! I forgot! What jobs?

We are, for lack of better words, in trouble.

We need all of the resources on this planet to make this work. Hemp could be a major player .

The following report is about how hemp can alleviate the damage to the world’s forests. The forests are the second biggest carbon sink on the planet (next to the oceans). How can we sequester carbon in the forests if we keep on removing the trees?

Help From Hemp

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Oregon Senate Testimony

Industrial Hemp Bill 676 on 3-26-09

QuickTime™ and aCinepak decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Poster

• Poster explanation

• Why Industrial Hemp?

• Hemp Attributes

• Industrial Hemp Products

• Biofuel Production Methods

• Pyrolysis

• Hemp Composite Materials

• Hemp Building-Ireland

• 21st Century Applications-Conclusions

• Glossary of terms

David Seber presenting for Oregon SB 676before the Oregon Senate 3-26-09

Introduction - Help from Hemp

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Poster Explanation•Hemp is to be grown densely (up to 18’ tall) with no side branching or plant spacing. It is then simultaneously chopped, cleaned, and graded from whole green stalk into pieces 1/4” to 1/2” during the harvesting process. The grades are then pre-treated (depending on application) to be used as “feedstock” or “furnish” which will make:

•Biofuels and biochar

•Building materials and composites

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Why Industrial Hemp?

• Yield -

Hemp can produce multiple tons of fiber/biomass per acre on secondary and tertiary growing areas, and more on primary farmland. Hemp is the only fiber and energy source-plant that produces enough fiber and biomass, on a sustainable basis in temperate regions, to replace the biomass currently extracted from our forests and food producing sources.

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Hemp Attributes• Hemp Stalks are composed of fiber and hurds (foam-

like core material)

• Two traditional outstanding characteristics are fiber strength and water resistance

• The plant chemistry of hemp lends itself to biofuel, agricultural supplements, and the making of construction composites. In addition to 10-15% primary fiber, the hurds are composed of cellulose (77%-fiber 47% hurd), the remainder being comprised of hemicellulose (9%-fiber 21% hurd) and lignin (4%-fiber 19%-hurd) that is soluble with hydrogen peroxide. Other stalk constituents include pectin, wax and other trace chemicals.

• Note* Chemical percentages come from Canadian John Baker article “What is Biofibers?”

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Industrial Hemp Products

• Biofuels & Biochar

• 3 processes are being considered in the production of biofuel & biochar: Distillation, Biodigestion, Pyrolysis

• While it is not yet clear that fuels from biomass make either economic or environmental sense, hemp is the best choice for renewable biomass in temperate climates.

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Biofuel Production Methods

• Distillation: Ethanol production using corn has already proved itself to be a disaster both environmentally and economically

• Biodigestion of cellulosic materials via the use of bacterial or algae based agents has not yet been practically demonstrated.

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•“Pyrolysis is the burning of biomass without the presence of oxygen, this then produces volatile gasses (that can then be collected and processed into liquid fuels) and bio-char as a “side” product…” *Spath, et al, Update of Hydrogen from Biomass -Determination of the Delivered Cost of Hydrogen, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Milestone Report for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydrogen Program 2001

•Unfortunately, infrastructure investment for pyrolysis is prohibitively expensive. However, the bio-char side product holds tremendous potential to eliminate nutrient runoff in fields, to supplement, and eventually replace, petroleum based fertilizers in agriculture. The combination of these two products makes pursuit of this technology worthwhile.

Pyrolysis

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Hemp for Composite Materials•Hemp is as good or superior to wood fiber in all

current applications of modern building materials such as Particleboard, Medium Density Fiberboard, Oriented Strand Board panels, or Laminated Veneer Lumber structural beams, and can be produced (with minor modifications) in the mills as they are. •Thermoplastic/Resin reinforcement (fiberglass) applications

ranging from structural members and fasteners to panels and membranes•Hemp and Lime construction technologies

•To see a report on these topics go to www.fibrealternatives.com for the link to Bast Fiber Applications for Composites by David Seber and Erwin Lloyd

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Hemp Fiber Boardmedium density fiber board (MDF)

created by Washington State University 1994

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Hemp FiberUsed in Thermoplastic/Resin reinforcement

(fiber in fiberglass polymer & composite fiber laminates)

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Hemp FiberPicture of Hemp Hurd

Used in blown insulation, concrete fabrication

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Hemp and Lime Building Materials

• Hemp and lime can be mixed to make a spectrum of building materials ranging from blown insulation, plasters, panels, structural members and aggregates for walls, floors, etc.

These materials create buildings and structures that absorb carbon dioxide over time while creating super comfortable interior environments, with walls that actually “breath”.

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Hemp-Lime Technology Warehouse

Built in Ireland with hemp/lime panels and insulation from Lime Technology Company of Great Britain

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Hemp is an ideal material:

• For making biofuels and biochar for agriculture

• To mitigate global warming, and forest degradation

• To stabilize the world economy

• To revolutionize, building materials, and construction technologies

• To provide Green Collar Jobs, and Employment!

21st Century Industrial Hemp

Applications and Conclusions

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Glossary

• Biofuel: Volatile liquids and solids derived from plants that provide energy when ignited/combusted

• Biomass: Weight and volume of organic matter

• Construction Composites: processed material products used in buildings

• Distillation: heating and extraction of liquids produced by fermentation

• Biodigestion: the breakdown of biomass using bacterial, algal cultures and catalysts

• Pyrolysis: the combustion of biomass with little or no oxygen present