Industrial Hemp: A History in the Making
Hemp is quietly making its comeback and it’s just in time…
It has been said that humans are a species that suffers from “amnesia”. Which seems plausible when you consider that in spite of modern society's sophistication, most of ancient history is a mystery to us.
But back to the case in point. Did you know that the hemp plant can reportedly be made into 25,000 products, according to an article by Popular Mechanics in 1938…
fabric made from hemp is one of the oldest human relics from industry made in 8,000 BC…
in Persia hemp has been cultivated and used for thousands of years and was referred to as the ‘herb of the immortal’, and even to this day, it is still called shahdaneh, which means ‘royal seed’...
the first identified paper made from hemp (from over 2,000 years ago) dates to the early Western Han Dynasty, 200 years before the recorded invention of paper-making…
hemp was used by the Romans and was made compulsory to grow in the 16th century by Henry VIII during his reign in Britain…
over 120,000 lbs of hemp fibre was used in 1797 for the rigging of the 44-gun USS Constitution (the oldest ship still afloat), known as Old Ironsides…
Sambe, or hemp fabric, is one of the major traditional textiles used in South Korea and was grown in every province in the 1930s, with it becoming a luxury fabric today…
Nike released their first hemp shoe in 2004 with their recent Air Zoom collection in 2020 containing a special edition hemp sneaker inspired by London and Tokyo…
Cheshire Oaks is home to Marks and Spencers’ greenest ever store, which is 35% more carbon efficient and 50% more energy efficient, due to the hemp materials used…
BMW’s i3, made using hemp and carbon fibre, launched in 2013 and is 800 lbs lighter than any other cars in its class …
later that same year research was completed, with peer reviewed data demonstrating that hemp graphene could be used as an electric battery super-capacitor that could someday power a Tesla…
a groom can get married in a 100% hemp tailored suit made in Romania, and found on Wolf and Badger (one of Britain’s best boutiques with storefronts in New York and LA)...
Olivia Munn, star of movies including X-Men, Predator and Lego, eats hemp seeds for breakfast, as it is one of the best naturally occurring vegan sources of protein…
based on research carried out by a team from Italy, France, England and Germany, it was concluded in 2020 that a wind turbine blade could be made from hemp fibre…
using pyro-gasification technology, in 2021 a French company established a waste free process to convert locally grown hemp into hydrogen and methane for transport fuels and electricity…
a modular sofa range was designed by ATRA, a design and architecture firm with Swedish and Mexican roots, with hemp used in manufacturing the upholstery…
Nivea launched a Sensitive Pro, Ultra-Calming Face Balm for Men in 2022 using hemp seed oil to help soothe dry skin and avoid acne…
Evidently, hemp has been put to good use by our ancestors and we are at another tipping point in history when hemp has the opportunity to become the “Billion Dollar Crop”, as first featured in Popular Mechanics in 1938.
However, since the end of the 1930’s and in spite of its excellent credentials as the baseline raw material for a biorefinery to produce multiple products, it has been shunned.
The two principal reasons for this marginalisation can be attributed to both public perception and economics. The public perception of hemp was made synonymous with something evil by those with both the means and motivation and restrictive legislation followed. Undeniably, another important but secondary factor is simply that fossil fuel derived products are particularly cheap to produce at scale.
However, releasing carbon that has been stored in the ground for thousands of years bears a heavy price beyond economics. It is particularly unpalatable when alternatives exist. The technology to unpack a diverse range of products from hemp is available.
Climate change and the related evidence is now widely accepted as a severe and a direct threat to our existence. Public perception is shifting and the largest companies in the world, in particular fossil fuel companies, are pouring vast amounts of money into improving the environmental outcome of their activities and reducing their GHG burden. Deloitte recently released their Global Turning Point paper pointing to the upcoming Green Industrial Revolution and the opportunity therein.
Enter hemp. This low input / high output crop can be grown widely. With the right procedural approach and when coupled with regenerative farming techniques, its cultivation creates a net benefit to biodiversity and specifically the soil which stores more carbon than the atmosphere and all plant life combined. When it reaches maturity at 4 metres within 4 months, its above ground biomass has removed more carbon dioxide relative to trees when measured against the same parameters (timeline and area used). This means that products produced from hemp have the potential to be carbon neutral and even carbon negative.
Products that were once imported can now be produced at scale here in the UK to establish new domestic markets and improve the sustainability of supply chains. And these processed hemp-derived replacements can be sold at approximate price parity to the environmentally damaging products they will replace, allowing their uptake to meaningfully disrupt the status quo and to eventually replace certain products entirely.
Products that can be replaced include imported fossil fuels and other energy feedstocks for hydrogen and transport fuels, imported soy protein for food markets, concrete, plastics, synthetic carbon fibres and many other products, the availability of which are vital to our continued development.
There is considerable renewed interest from many forward thinking sectors around alternative nature based solutions and the benefits of incorporating hemp, while not a panacea, is a step change toward social, economic and environmental upside. And dare I say it, its resurgence has cropped up just in time…
References
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=e9sDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA87&pg=PA238&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
https://www.edenproject.com/visit/things-to-do/outdoor-gardens/hemp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp_paper#cite_note-1
https://www.farmcollector.com/farm-life/strategic-fibers/
https://folkency.nfm.go.kr/en/topic/detail/7052
https://www.nikesb.com/the-vault/silver-box/hemp-pack
https://blog.size.co.uk/2020/08/20/london-meets-tokyo-on-our-exclusive-nike-air-zoom-type-hemp/
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/marks-spencer-biggest-greenest
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/hemp-the-world-s-most-controversial-plant-is-good-for-cars-144966.html
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-28770876
https://www.wolfandbadger.com/uk/100-hemp-tailored-suit-jacket-single-breasted-blazer-men-s-groom-suit-vegan-blue/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-6084389/Olivia-Munn-reveals-stays-trim-eating-avocado-HEMP-SEEDS-breakfast.html
https://renewable-carbon.eu/news/hemp-in-high-performance-composites/
https://www.dezeen.com/2020/02/23/atra-nerthus-sofa-furniture-collection-hemp-recycled-materials/
https://www.nivea.co.uk/advice/skin/hemp-oil-for-skin