Industrial Applications of Hemp
Hemp is a very unique plant, growing at a fast rate and producing exceptionally strong fibers that can be used for literally thousands of products. As a renewable raw material that cleans the air and soil as it grows, hemp offers humanity a way out of relying on environmentally-damaging and limited petroleum resources.
As Jack Herer stated in his famous book The Emperor Wears No Clothes, “I don’t know if hemp is going to save the world, but it’s the only thing that can.”
What is Hemp?
Hemp is simply a variety of the Cannabis sativa plant with a structure more suited for industrial use. True industrial hemp produces very low levels of cannabinoids. The plant has been cultivated for thousands of years, and prized for the high-quality of its fibers.
Most of the value of hemp comes from its stalks, which have two main components:
- Outer, long bast fibers
- Inner, woody hurds
Benefits of growing hemp
- Removes contaminants from polluted soil, including heavy metals
- Needs little to no pesticides
- Inhibits soil pathogens and acts as natural insecticide
- Naturally kills surrounding weeds
- Relatively minimal labor required for cultivation
- Low chance of crop failure
- Can be harvested after as little as 3 months
- Adds nutrients to soil
- About 75% lower cost overall to cultivate than cotton
- Chemical make-up of the fibers (high cellulose/low lignin) makes hemp more suitable for processing than many other vegetable fibers
- Large yields of usable material (~4.9 tons/acre cellulose, ~8.1 tons/acre stem particles, and ~10.1 tons/acre fiber matter
- Particularly good at removing CO₂ from the atmosphere – sequesters ~ 4 – 9 tons of CO₂ per acre per year
- May help prevent soil erosion through its deep root network
- Interferes with plant disease development when used in crop rotation
The following sections describe several of the most important hemp-based products. To start, the following image demonstrates the remarkable variety of products that can be made from various parts of the hemp plant.
Paper
Hemp has historically been used to make paper, at least since 105CE in China. It was eventually replaced by wood, and increasing demand has contributed to deforestation.
As a highly renewable resource, hemp could lower the need to rely on trees for paper production. It can also be processed more safely, relying on peroxide rather than bleach. Hemp paper can also survive hundreds of years.
The variety of paper products hemp can produce is quite impressive. “Hemp paper’s high tear strength and wet strength make it ideal for currency paper, art paper, cigarette paper, tea bags, specialty nonwovens, carbon tissue, grease-proof paper, and other applications.”
Building Materials
Hemp can be combined with lime and water to make “hempcrete”, an eco-friendly and sustainable building material. Numerous properties of hempcrete make it particularly suitable for construction.
- Fire-resistant, exhibiting no flaming ignition and minimal smoke (“Flammability tests by direct application of a gas torch flame to the specimen surface proved the lack of flammability and spontaneous fire extinguishing ability of hempcrete”)
- Good thermal insulation
- Good sound absorption/insulation
- Sequesters 76 kg of CO₂ per cubic meter
- Reduces “direct and indirect consumption of electricity (heating and cooling)” due to excellent moisture buffering capacity
- Vapor permeability reduces moisture accumulation, reducing chance of wood rot
- Compatible with other building materials
- Proven real-world efficacy – picture to left shows the “Hemp Hotel” in Cape Town, South Africa, which launched in August 2023, during construction
Clothing
Hemp fibers can be used in clothing, where they possess numerous beneficial properties.
- Is a sustainable source of fabric
- Can be softened with little to no chemicals, mainly mechanical processes
- Highly durable, allowing longtime use
- Air permeability, thermal and water vapor resistance contribute to comfort of clothing
- Blocks 95% of ultraviolet rays
- Fiber contains antibacterial/antifungal/antioxidant compounds like alkaloids, flavones and saponins, and is shown to reduce activity of E. coli, S. aureus, and P. aeruginosa
- Hypoallergenic
- Hemp socks can reduce foot odor
- A particularly fascinating study showed that CBD-enriched hemp clothing improved wearers’ skin, seemingly due to combination of CBD and beneficial acids in hemp fiber including syringic, p-coumaric, and ferulic acid
Textiles
Textiles in general, which are made from natural or synthetic fibers, can also use hemp as their source. Hemp/cotton blends, as opposed to cotton alone, have improved moisture absorption, antibacterial/antimold/antistatic properties, air permeability, and ultraviolet protection.
Hemp has a special place in maritime history, being used for sails and rigging. The fiber’s tremendous strength and resistance to degradation by salt water made it especially suitable for travel.
Other textile products include:
The fascinating picture shown here is a hemp trading card made by French chocolate brand Chocolat Poulain in 1900! It was part of a series called “Useful Plants.”
Fuel
The whole hemp plant contains both fats and carbohydrates, which makes it suitable for producing both biodiesel and bioethanol. If scaled to large production, hemp may be able to help reduce reliance on petroleum, thus helping fight pollution and climate change.
Hemp with high levels of lipids currently has an estimated comparable cost to soybean-derived biodiesel. As hemp cultivation scales, the cost could likely eventually beat soybean, especially since hemp can produce 51% more biodiesel per acre.
Plastic
The vast majority of plastic products are currently made from fossil fuels, which contributes to climate change. Hemp offers a renewable way to make plastic products without having to rely on these conventional resources.
Depending on the production method, hemp bioplastics can have a range of properties, making them suitable for various products. Hemp-derived plastic is strong enough for use as containers, and may be able to replace many types of product packaging. Its nontoxic nature also makes it safer for humans and the environment.
An organization called The Hemp Plastic Company is working to expand hemp plastic use. They’ve found their customers can reduce conventional plastic use by 25-100% after incorporating hemp.
Food/Personal Care Products
The seeds of the hemp plant are one of the most well-balanced, nutritionally-complete foods in the world. Hemp seed is mostly found in its whole form, as protein powder, or pressed oil. The following attributes make hemp seed a true superfood! The seed contains:
- Around a 3:1 Omega-6:Omega-3 essential fatty acid ratio, ideal for humans
- A rare fatty acid called gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) with anti-inflammatory effects
- Complete protein, with all essential amino acids, mainly in the form of edestin and albumin, which have high digestibility
- Minerals like potassium, magnesium, zinc, calcium, copper, phosphorus, manganese, and iron
- Insoluble fiber for gut health
- Some vitamins, especially Vitamin E tocopherols
- Other powerful antioxidant compounds, including ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid, and other minor phenolics
- A particularly unique class of polyphenol called lignanamides
These benefits also make hemp seed/oil a valuable component of personal care products like cosmetics, shampoos, and soaps.
Supercapacitors/Graphene
While plants in general are not often associated with futuristic technology, hemp may play a role in the field of supercapacitors. These electronic components can rapidly charge and discharge, and last far longer than normal capacitors. Practically, this could result in faster charging for all kinds of electronic devices, as well as cut down on waste.
Supercapacitors can be made from graphene, an extremely thin sheet of carbon. Researchers have demonstrated that with proper processing, hemp fibers can be made into graphene. Estimates suggest hemp-derived graphene may be 1000x cheaper than conventional graphene.
Unlike the other applications here, this is still a very early yet promising use of hemp that’s not commercially viable yet. It’s worth researching though!
