Another thought-
Does anyone know how much edible matter is yielded from hemp? I know the seeds are one of the more nutritious food sources known to man (EFA's, Protein, Vitamins E & D, Fiber, etc..)? Those EFA's are the good Omega3 kind, with the anti-inflammatory, cardio-protective protective properties. No other substance in nutrition has been more studied, or it's benefits more widely validated scientifically.
I don't know the ratios, but the high quality protein and GLA are valuable products; and the protein is high quality and dense, like animal meat. Its fibers are useful for softening stool (Chinese medicine has used hemp to treat intestinal problems for centuries).
So I don’t know to what extent, but it seems as if Hemp farms should also produce a certain amount of dense, vital nutrients (not to mention, fibers for other industries). Hemp plants require little in the way of pesticide use. They are hardy, grow in all climates, and replace themselves rapidly. You don’t need primo farmland to grow hemp. Remember Victory Gardens? Remember when America responded to a crisis by being proactive, frugal, and doing things for themselves? Seeing as Hemp can grow almost anywhere, I could easily envision smaller scale farms, and smaller, more localized distribution networks. And here’s where it will get tricky – infrastructure needs if we are looking at a multi-fuel approach…. How will that limit us?
Lot’s of tough questions there. But, rather than throw my hands up and make a sarcastic, negative, teen-angsty dismissive joke about it, I recognize, that we don’t really have other options but to try.
So although Ravi has a point about the unfeasibility of converting all the needed land to replace oil with biomass (estimates are, we'd need a field about the size of Africa to just replace the gas in the cars), it doesn't have to be so 'all or nothing', and I don't think any of the researchers are operating under any such delusions. It's like other have said - the "solution: with really be diversification of means of collections and application. Diversification of energy supplies is our only choice. Some oil, some coil, some wind, some geo-thermal, some.
And let’s be clear- there will be less driving. We’ll need whatever supplies of petroleum we have left (by the time we ever develop the alternatives), for more critical products, like my new computers and knee replacements. Is the future to have no MMPORPG’s? Are we ready for that kind of austerity?
We better be.
The Oil Drum | Discussions about Energy and Our Future
