As three Nebraska senate hopefuls discussed their views on ethanol as a renewable energy sources last week, Nebraska Greeen Party candidate, Steve Larrick, went on the record as seeing a great amount potential in hemp. As the Beatrice Daily Sun reports:
Larrick went to a more “green” side of the debate. He said the best thing to do is look at the options for cellulosic ethanol.
Cellulosic ethanol is using the corn waste products to make ethanol, instead of the corn itself. Many believe this could lessen the higher cost of corn food products. Others believe that those waste products are important to make top soil for the next year’s crop.
An issue Larrick will fight for is getting the ban on industrial hemp lifted. Unlike medicinal marijuana, industrial hemp has a low THC level, meaning that the drug effects are minimal.
Larrick said that Canada and countries in Europe use industrial hemp to make ethanol and their production has increased 300 percent in the past few years.
“We need to invest in truly renewable energy,” he said. “We need to get our young people knowledgeable about truly renewable energy sources.”
Hemp seems like a preferable source of biofuel because it grows quickly and is not a food crop. Using corn for biofuel production , for example, cuts into food supplies and drives the price of food up even higher.
Furthermore, not only can hemp reduce emissions when used as a biofuel, it can reverse them while it is being cultivated. An acre of hemp can yield 500 gallons of gasoline, and while growing can remove tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Some of this carbon dioxide is then deposited in the ground, where it increases soil fertility and no longer contributes to global warming.