Hemp: The Single Best Solution for Worldwide Carbon Sequestration
What is Hemp?
- Hemp is used to make hemp oil, CBD, paper, rope, clothes and etc.
- Marijuana is used to make psychoactive medicine.
- In this article, we are talking specifically about hemp.
Race Against Time
Our planet is in a race to sequester carbon as fast as possible. Many options are being discussed in the mainstream space but there is one very viable and completely natural solution which has yet to hit the news.
- 1 hectare of trees absorb 10 tonnes of CO2 per year,
- 1 hectare of industrial hemp absorbs 22 tonnes of CO2 per hectare.
- Over the course of a tree’s life, it can sequester much more CO2.
Carbon Sequestration: Trees
Trees need a much longer time period to reach their ideal CO2 absorption rate which is ideally intended for supporting habitats and ecosystems. Planting trees is an excellent long term carbon sequestration strategy.
- Hemp reaches full size in approximately 100 days
- Trees reach full size in approximately 10 years
- Deforestation is one of the biggest causes for climate change
Carbon Sequestration: Machines
Carbon can be removed naturally in a method known as Direct Air Capture.
- Cost about 3 to 4 times more than natural solutions such as reforestation. One reason for this is that it requires a lot of energy to separate out CO2.
- Does not require lots of land to sequester carbon due to it’s sitting flexibility.
- Capturing one tonne of CO2 can require between 1 and 7 tonnes of water.
Save the Trees and Use Hemp!
40% of all paper and pump products can be replaced by hemp. This can significantly reduce the negative impact from global warming cause by deforestation.
- Hemp office paper, toilet paper, construction products, furniture, products known as “Hemp Wood”.
- Reducing our need to cut trees in the first place is the best long term strategy for reforestation.
For People and Planet
Hemp can be used to capture carbon and the plant can then be used to make a variety of products.
- Fabrics, Construction Products, Food, Fuel/Ethanol, Medicine, Paper, Plastic products, Body Care Products, Batteries, and more.
Various companies around the world area already making a mark in the hemp products sector and universities are rolling out programs that hemp specific
Let’s Run the Numbers
- The world emits about 43 billion tons of CO2 a year. Let’s see if it is possible to cut this number in half by sequestering 20 billion tons of CO2 from our atmosphere.
- Hemp has the potential to meet this demand through it’s ability to rapidly sequester carbon from our atmosphere. Let’s do the math to see how this would look.
20 billion tons of CO2 per year÷ 22 tons of CO2 sequestration per ha/year
The answer is 900 million hectares and in theory this is exactly how many hectares of hemp are needed each year to sequester 20 billion tons of CO2.
A Resilient Plant
What is it that makes hemp such a resilient plant?
- It has the ability to grow on unfertile soil
- Hemp is prone to an insignificant level of diseases and insects.
- Hemp can grow in a wide range of climatic zones, see figure below.
Planting Worldwide
Drone Seed bombing: A technique which is also known as Aerial Reforestation, a practical way method to plant hemp in remote areas.
- “Seed Bombs” are basically balls of clay, earth and growth catalyst that have seeds packed within.
- This method has already been used successfully for planting trees.
Local Incentive: Due to the fact that hemp is a major cash crop, locals in any given community can be encouraged to grow hemp.
- When fully grown, the plant can be used for fuel to stay warm during the night, fuel vehicles, or cook food.
- Hemp has been used for thousands of years and it can allow regions to be self sustaining.
Environmental Activism: Most people want to make an impact but do not know how exactly to go about doing so.
- Volunteers can be brought on board for purpose of planting hemp in a strategic manner.
- School events can be arranged to allow the youth to be fully involved in these projects.
Hemp Smart Carbon Capture Facilities: Industrial stack farming set up for farming hemp on a massive scale.
- Made possible by a company called Gravitas Carbotura.
Environmental Science
Before we can begin planting hemp all around the world, it is important to take into consideration how this would effect other environmental factors.
- Plant and Animal Life
- Various Habitats
- Geographic Challenges
Hemp is often called an invasive species but this is not the case. This means that it is not a dangerous threat to other plant life around it.
- Hemp is not listed in the The Invasive and Exotic Species of
North America website. - Hemp is not listed as a weed or noxious plant in th U.S.
In the Real World
- Hemp is not a one pill solution as it will have to work in unison with various other climate action efforts but hemp can and should take the front seat in the effort to sequester carbon from our atmosphere.
- We can start doing this as soon as tomorrow but without the appropriate legal and environmental clearance to back this mission, it is not a safe approach.
- Marijuana that contains high levels of THC requires a lot of water and pesticide products for growth, therefore it does not fit into this category of hemp plants.
- Growing hemp doesn’t even have to be done for products, merely growing hemp for carbon sequestration is called “Carbon Farming”
“Growing hemp as nature designed it is vital to our urgent need to reduce greenhouse gases and ensure the survival of our planet.” — Jack Herer
