Fuel for the Future

He probably didn’t have hemp based bio diesel in mind when he said this, but prior to the 1800’s hempseed oil was the primary oil used for lighting.  And during Henry Ford’s time, vegetable oil based bio diesel was the primary fuel used in diesel engines.  It wasn’t until the 1920’s that petro-diesel became available. Now, with the oil supply starting to run out, it seems that this fuel of the past may indeed play a vital role in the future.  Some governments are even taking steps to promote bio-fuel production.

The Laos Ministry of Energy recently announced that they are going to be developing a national bio fuel development strategy with the goal of switching 30% of the nation’s fuel consumption to bio-fuel by the year 2020.  In the light of a blossoming new industry, there are many viable candidates for bio-fuel production.  Different oil seed crops such as soy, canola, and safflower are currently the popular choice for bio-fuel production.  Hemp however, boasts a higher oil seed yield than any of the popular oil seed crops today.  The paradox with hempseed oil is that although it is the largest producer of any oil seed crop, due to the legal ramifications of growing hemp, it costs about $100 a gallon to import. This could change completely with the legalization of industrial hemp.  Scientifically speaking, industrial hemp is a far cry from its cousin cannabis, boasting a THC content between .005% and 1%.  This lack of psychoactive THC makes industrial hemp worthless as for recreational/ medicinal uses.   Although the DEA fails to see the difference between hemp and marijuana, the federal government is quietly promoting hemp research by giving permits to researchers to cultivate the plant. Though only a select few farmers are able to obtain these permits, it is definitely a step in the right direction. Grayson and Kellie Sigler are amongst this select group of researchers.  In 2001 the couple embarked on a thirteen thousand mile journey cross country with six hundred gallons of hempseed oil, and an old retrofitted Mercedes Benz.  Throughout the trip they suffered only minor   breakdowns due to the age ofthe car, but they say the fuel had nothing to do with their engine troubles. What the Hemp Car did more than anything was prove and raise awareness that hemp is a viable fuel source.  The process for making hemp based bio fuel is the same as the process for making any other kind of vegetable oil based bio fuel, and follows the method developed by Mike Pelly.

Although the process May seem simple, there are many smaller steps that I have excluded. The process begins by mixing lye with water.   Alcohol is then added to hempseed oil.  Once this is done, the water/lye solution is mixed in order to make an accurate titration. The next step is mixing lye and methanol to make sodium methoxide.   Once the lye dissolves, the hempseed oil is added to the sodium methoxide.  Then the mixture is mixed thoroughly. The mixing continues and a layer of bio diesel develops on the top of the bucket and on the bottom of the bucket a layer of soap, catalyst, and glycerin. After mixing, it needs to settle for at least eight hours to ensure there is no sediment in the top biodiesel layer.  After it settles, the biodiesel layer is poured off, and the soap/catalyst layer is removed and discarded. The raw biodiesel is then purified via a heat/water process and the purified hempseed biodiesel is ready to use in any unmodified diesel engine and can even be mixed with petro-diesel.

Time will tell if the law changes in hemp’s favor.  If so, entire fields of hemp seeds could be cultivated, and hempseed oil could very well become the fuel of the future.