Reply #86: ... [View All]

[Karthun]

Sorry to burst your bubble but Hemp is quite possably the worst way to get biodiesel.

Canola and sunflowers give about 70 gallons of biodiesel per acre. Soybeans 40 with very valuable feed byproducts (actually biodiesel is the byproduct of the feed from soybeans). Hemp only 30. Hemp, being a tall grass, would also be on the same place in a crop roation as corn or sunflower and it can NOT follow canola, edible beans, soybeans or sunflowers.

Hemp is also not economical to plant. Per acre the total operating cost of hemp is 532$ canadian. In compairison, soybeans is 232.10$ Canadian and canola is 247.55$ canadian. Sorry about the cost figures not being in USD.

sources
http://www.animana.org/tab1/13gettman-whynothemp.shtml (pro hemp source)
http://www.gov.on.ca/OMAFRA/english/crops/facts/00-067.htm#soil (neutral)
http://www.gov.on.ca/OMAFRA/english/busdev/facts/pub60.htm#soybeans (neutral)