Hemp is a versatile plant that has been used for centuries for various purposes. From textiles and paper to food and medicine, hemp has a wide range of applications. Recently, hemp has gained attention in the economy as a potential game-changer. Hemp cultivation and production have created a buzz in the market, and the industry is expected to grow in the coming years. In this article, we will explore the potential of hemp for a healthy economy and why it is the green gold that everyone is talking about.
The legalization of hemp in many countries has opened new opportunities for farmers and entrepreneurs. Hemp cultivation is a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to traditional crops. It requires less water, pesticides, and fertilizers, making it a more environmentally friendly option. Moreover, hemp has a short growth cycle and can be used for multiple purposes. This means that farmers can get multiple yields from a single crop, resulting in higher profits.
Apart from farming, the hemp industry has also created jobs in various sectors, including manufacturing, sales, and research. Hemp can be used to produce a wide range of products, from textiles and clothing to building materials and biofuels. The demand for these products is increasing, and so is the need for skilled workers. This has resulted in the creation of new jobs and the growth of the economy.
With its many applications, the hemp industry has the potential to generate revenue for the government. Hemp products are subject to taxes, and the industry can contribute to the country’s GDP. Moreover, hemp can also be used for medicinal purposes, and the pharmaceutical industry can benefit from its therapeutic properties. This can result in increased tax revenue and a boost to the economy.
Hemp: The Green Gold that’s Creating a Buzz in the Market!
The hemp industry is growing at a rapid pace, and investors are taking notice. Hemp companies are going public, and the market is showing a strong appetite for hemp-based products. From CBD oil to hemp-based clothing, the demand for these products is increasing, and so is the value of the industry. According to a report by Grand View Research, the global hemp market size was valued at $4.71 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.8% from 2020 to 2027.
The popularity of hemp-based products is not just limited to consumers. Businesses are also looking to incorporate hemp into their operations. Hemp can be used as a sustainable alternative to plastic, and companies are exploring ways to make hemp-based packaging. Hemp can also be used as a source of biofuel, and the transportation industry is looking to incorporate it into their operations.
The potential of hemp is not just limited to the economy. Hemp can have a positive impact on the environment as well. Hemp is a natural carbon sink and can be used to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Moreover, hemp cultivation can help prevent soil erosion and promote soil health. By promoting the growth of hemp, we can create a sustainable future for ourselves and the planet.
In conclusion, the hemp industry has the potential to create a healthy economy while promoting sustainability and environmental stewardship. With its versatility and wide range of applications, hemp is a valuable resource that should be explored further. As more countries legalize hemp cultivation, we can expect to see the industry grow even further. So, let’s embrace the buzzing buzz of hemp and create a brighter future for ourselves and the planet.
Hemp, the forgotten billion euro Industry is making a come back, guest post by David Hartigan
Hemp and hemp derived products have been a hot topic the last number of years as it comes back into the mainstream with high level Celebrities such as Whoopi Goldberg and Olivia Newton-John promoting its benefits.
Hemp trends to watch in 2023 and beyond
But hemp has been around long before the word Celebrity even existed. There are suggestions that the plant was first cultivated as far back as 8000 B.C. and evidence that it was used by the Egyptians for paper, sails and medicine.
Hemp is ingrained in human history with over 25,000 uses and has been relied upon through History for use in textiles, food and fuel. Hemp was such a vital resource that wars have been fought over its supply. At one point in History in the 1600’s Hemp was so valuable that it was regarded as legal tender in the US and you could pay your taxes with hemp in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland.
During WW2 the US Government even ran a Campaign “Hemp For Victory” to encourage farmers to grow hemp for fibre which was used to help with the war effort. Unfortunately shortly after the war ended heavy taxation and political policies resulted in Hemp being classified as a schedule 1 drug in the US and damaged its demand in Europe.
Only in recent years has the Industry been allowed to flourish again with the Farm Bill in 2018 which removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act. Since then Hemp has been making a comeback in a big way and has huge potential to disrupt a number of sectors: Textiles, Construction, Food and food supplements, Fuel
Textile Industry
With natural resources in short supply and an increasing demand to move away from petroleum based products, the textile Industry is going through a dynamic change as it looks for more sustainable alternatives. This is where hemp has a huge potential to fill the gap in this $900+ billion Industry
Hemp Clothing and Textiles
Hemp unlike cotton does not require vast amounts of water so is much more sustainable and can be used to make a wide range of items such as jeans, T-shirts, socks, hoodies, towels etc. Hemp fabric is extremely durable as it is highly absorbent, lightweight and three times stronger than cotton. Already big brands like Patagonia have been using hemp fabrics in its clothing lines for nearly a decade and this trend is only set to increase.
Construction
Like all sectors the Construction Sector is really feeling the squeeze due to the rising cost of materials combined with supply issues. Not to mention a push from Governments to use more sustainable building materials to reduce their carbon footprint. Fortunately hemp may hold the solution to some of these problems as it can be used to create strong, durable, ecological building materials.
One of the most exciting uses of hemp is as a replacement for petroleum-based materials in new builds and retrofits. One example of this is Hempcrete, a product made from a mixture of hemp hurds (shives) and lime, sand, or pozzolans, which is used as a material for construction and insulation.With the global insulation market valued at over $64.9 Billion Hemp certainly has a promising future. Hempcrete is non toxic, fully biodegradable and has great insulation properties making it a superior building material.
Insulation
As an insulation hemp works wonders as it absorbs heat during the day and stores it in the thermal mass of the wall which is then slowly released. This ensures it keeps your house cool during the day and warm at night.
Non-Hazardous and Non-Toxic
Hemp is extremely safe to work with as it is non-toxic and non-hazardous. This makes it a much safer material to work with compared to the likes of fibreglass or other petrochemical materials which are linked to adverse side effects.
Fully Recyclable, Natural Fire Resistant & pest resistant
As hempcrete is bio based it is fully recyclable meaning it won’t end up in a landfill making it even more eco friendly. Not only that it is known for being fireproof and pest resistant.
Food and food supplements
Hemp is a fantastic source of food for both humans and animals due to it being nutritionally dense. Hemp is a great source of protein and rich in omega 3 & 6 and Vitamin E. It also has high levels of magnesium, zinc, iron and calcium which are essential for a healthy heart. Hemp seeds are consumed widely across the World and companies are looking at how hemp can be used to make meat free burgers and even cow milk substitutes.
In terms of a feed for animals hemp is already widely used due to its high protein content and relatively low cost. The other benefit of using hemp as an animal feed is that it can be produced locally avoiding the need to import the likes of soya which is mainly produced in Asia helping to reduce unnecessary food miles.
In the food supplement sector Hemp is already thriving with the likes of CBD products sold widely across Europe. Hemp supplements are being used to help with everything from sleep issues, to pain and anxiety. Already experts are saying the CBD market could be worth $20 billion by 2024 as more people look for natural alternatives and lean away from pharmaceuticals
Fuel
As the demand for energy increases and the energy crisis facing Europe worsens there is a pressing need to diversify away from traditional sources such as oil. The good news is that hemp seeds can be used to make a very reliable biodiesel.
Hemp has a high fuel yield and a short growth cycle making it an ideal rotational crop and it takes more Co2 out of the atmosphere than trees. Biodiesel made from the plant already meets clean air regulations and it is more environmentally friendly compared to other biofuel crops such as soya.
Hemp may also hold the key to the future of battery technology as a group of American and Canadian researchers found that the hemp bast fibres can be recycled into supercapacitors. The hemp fibres can be processed into carbon nanosheets, which are similar to graphene which is widely used in batteries. Compared to graphene, hemp is less expensive and works just as well for energy storage.
David Hartigan is a former PwC Business Consultant and Smurfit graduate who got involved in the hemp industry back in 2017. He is one of the leading experts in Europe on Hemp & CBD and currently sits on the board for the Hemp Cooperative Ireland specialising in regulation and compliance. Currently he is working with a number of TD’s and government departments to ensure more support is provided to the emerging hemp industry in Ireland.
Lorenza Romanese, Managing Director of the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) examines the future of hemp and explains in this vein, what is at stake, as well as looking back at its fascinating history.
Hemp has provided essential raw materials and a high protein and health-promoting food source for centuries, more likely millennia. The hemp plant has been used for construction, paper, textiles, ropes and other applications contributing significantly to the advance in western civilisation. Hemp was grown in Europe and most countries worldwide until the 1930s, after which cultivation got almost eradicated.
Since the end of the 20th century, hemp is making a comeback and is emerging as one of the most rapidly growing agricultural and industrial markets that have emerged for decades.
To clarify, we are talking about “hemp” (Cannabis sativa L.), which is authorised under the EU’s Common Catalogue of Varieties of Agricultural Plant species (Reg. 1308/2013) and contains less than 0,2% of THC, which means it is not psychoactive.
The world is facing enormous challenges – how can we transition from high carbon to a low carbon economy? To achieve this, hemp has a valuable contribution to play and offers economically viable solutions to help address some of the major challenges our societies currently face, including pollution, carbon emissions, plastics waste, world hunger, people’s health, lack of jobs and rural underdevelopment.
What are the key benefits of hemp?
The production of Hemp is carbon negative, which means it absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere during its growth than is emitted by the equipment used to harvest, process and transport it.
It is 10,000+ environmentally responsible industrial and consumer applications including bioplastics, composites, construction materials, high protein foods and beverages, health-promoting food supplements, textiles, paper products, biofuel, graphene substitutes.
It gives major environmental benefits. Significant carbon sequestration, enhanced biodiversity and a late season food source for bees, land reclamation and phytoremediation.
Also, hemp can be a profitable cash crop for farmers when permitted to utilise the whole plant.
What are the barriers to growth?
Almost 60 years ago, the hemp plant, which was widely used as food for centuries, was erroneously designated alongside the cannabis (marijuana) flower as a narcotic substance in the UN Single Convention. This has caused a lot of confusion as cultivation of cannabis plants for industrial purposes is clearly exempted from the scope of international control because the industrial hemp sector has been severely restricted in terms of onerous licensing procedures and unclear and complex European and national regulations dealing with hemp-derived food products.
Hemp foods and drinks from flowers leaves and extracts re-emerged in the 1990s. In response to the introduction of the Novel Food catalogue in 1997, the hemp industry collated data about the volume of sales and product types which use hemp flowers and leaves and submitted it as requested. In 1998, the hemp industry received written confirmation from the EU (PAFF Standing Committee) that: “it was decided that foods containing parts of the hemp plant do not fall under the EU Regulation EC258/97 on Novel Foods and Novel Food ingredients.” The second letter from PAFF confirmed hemp flowers and leaves are food ingredients.
Hemp naturally, abundantly contains cannabinoids, is best known as cannabidiol (CBD). In the 21st century, awareness is rapidly increasing that consuming healthy foods and supplements can be an important factor for our overall health and wellbeing. This prompted the introduction of hemp extracts in food supplements, commonly known as CBD oils. The reason hemp foods is so important to our health is that all humans and vertebrates have an important physiological system, the endocannabinoid system (ECS). The ECS fulfils a vital role and aids homeostasis. Whilst our body produces its own, so-called endocannabinoids, this is not necessarily sufficient and we can maintain and support this important physiological system by consuming phytocannabinoids, as we used to do for millennia.
Hemp flowers, leaves and extracts are a traditional food
Historical records show that naturally rich in CBD/cannabinoids hemp oils, flowers, leaves and hemp extracts were widely consumed. It was an integral part of our European diet.
During the last three years, the popularity of CBD containing food supplements prompted the PAFF committee to revisit the permitted consumption of hemp products and on 20th January 2019, the same committee that previously acknowledged in writing to the hemp industry 20 years earlier, that hemp flowers and leaves is a food now changed their minds and changed the Novel Food catalogue only permitting seeds for food use. Overnight the legitimate hemp foods industry was declared novel, meaning there is no history of consumption prior to May 1997.
In response, EIHA has prepared pieces of strong, extensive evidence that hemp cannabinoids/CBD have been consumed in Europe for centuries (insert a link to the evidence). One of the oldest cookbooks in the world, De Honesta et Voluptate (1475) lists a recipe on how to make modern-day CBD oil, medieval monks ate hemp soup, an Italian recipe (1887) shows how to make hemp flower tortellini, a Polish cookbook lists hemp as a vegetable, the Maltos-Cannabis Hemp Extract drink won a prize at the World Exhibition in Antwerp in 1894 and more. This evidence clearly shows that it is disingenuous to argue that leaves and flowers in food are novel today.
De Honesta et Voluptate (1475)
Why is the use of the hemp flower and leaves so important for the entire hemp industry?
The hemp flower and the leaves are the most profitable part of the plant. If the hemp sector is only allowed to use the seeds and stalks, alongside onerous licensing procedures, this is simply not sufficiently financially viable and undermines investment into R&D and the development of large- scale, next generation, environmentally responsible industrial and consumer products. The recent rewording of the Novel Food catalogue, therefore, threatens the entire European hemp industry as the process is expensive and a novel food application takes several years to assess.
Hemp field
Due to the fact that the hemp industry received written confirmation from the EU (PAFF Standing Committee) in 1998 that hemp flowers/leaves are permitted for food use and the hemp industry can provide ample and substantial evidence that naturally occurring CBD has been in the human food chain for millennia, we request that our extensive evidence is considered and that the novel food catalogue is reworded, permitting hemp foods containing cannabinoids/CBD up to levels that are naturally present in the plant (which was the status in 2018). This means that CBD containing food supplements contain no more than we would naturally consume if eating traditional hemp foods.
So, what is at stake?
The Hemp plant is capable of helping to solve some of the core issues we face:
Foods and supplements (seeds/flowers/leaves) maintain and support our health.
The stalk provides zero carbon raw materials ideal for the next generation of environmentally responsible applications, helping mitigate the environmental emergency.
The hemp industry has a real opportunity to play a leading role in the development and expansion of a low carbon, environmentally responsible industry, bringing a new ‘cash-crop’ to European agriculture and creating jobs across the entire supply chain.
For hemp to be a viable cash crop for our farmers and processors, they need to be empowered to utilise the whole plant.
EIHA and its members offer our extensive knowledge and expertise to help establish a framework permitting the use of the whole plant that satisfies both regulatory agencies and industry.
“CBD has been found to be generally well tolerated with a good safety profile.” Excerpts from a letter of WHO Director General to Secretary-General of the United Nations, July 23, 2018
“The Science Museum’s three-storey building is constructed using a hemp-lime envelope and was so effective that they switched off all heating, cooling and humidity control for over a year, maintaining steadier conditions than in their traditionally equipped stores, reducing emissions while saving a huge amount of energy.” Dr Mike Lawrence is Director of the University of Bath’s new research facility, the Building Research Park
“It has been calculated that the serial implementation of the lightweight biomaterials on the high-volume vehicles will deliver a reduction of 40,000 tons of CO2 emissions and the ability to drive an additional 325 million kilometres with the same quantity of fuel.” Source: Autocar Pro Newsdesk 3/2018.
