The industry
of medical cannabis has had quite considerable growth during the last years.
But what has happened to other sectors of the economy that have tried to enter
this industry? What advances have been done with hemp -fiber based products?
We know that
cannabis has been researched and used for many years; therefore, cannabis fiber
could be considered a perfect and ecological base to make resistant and
friendly cars with the environment.
Let's look
at the advances that the automotive sector has had throughout history with
respect to the plant.
Henry Ford,
in 1941, created a prototype vehicle with bioplastic bodywork using hemp fiber,
making this innovation a sustainable model and more resistant than steel or
fiberglass, known as Hemp Car or 'The Cannabis Car', although it is officially
called Soybean Car. This vehicle was presented in the Dearborn Day of the same
year.
Its manufacture: made of hemp, soybean, flaxstraw,
ramie (a vegetable fiber used in Egypt and other countries in the Middle East
for millennia), stuck by a cellulose resin extracted from soybeans, propelled
by hemp fuel, made from agricultural waste. The idea for the material used in
its manufacture came from the chemist George Washington Carver, with the help
of the Soybean Institute and, above all, the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama,
United States.
What happened next? The project was stopped with the
entry of World War II into the United States and before it was finished it is
said that the head of design at Ford gave the order to destroy the only
prototype.
Passed 70 years approximately, Bruce Dietzen spent
five years researching and inspired by Henry Ford decided to create his own
vehicle, a sport one with cannabis in the body, but also for the seats and
other elements, made with fiber of extracted hemp of the Cannabis sativa. The
result was a lighter car, which would reduce the CO2 emissions by 23%, a
considerable reduction and to drive it pollutes 75% less than an electrical
car.
Dietzen, a retired Dell computer salesman, completed
the car in his garage using the chassis of a Mazda, Dietzen built the sleek red
Cannabis Car using about 100 pounds of imported Chinese hemp. The woody
material inside the hemp stem is combined with a resin to form a super-strong
plastic that is then molded into the shape of the car's body.
Dietzen created the company
Renew Sports Cars, allowing him to manufacture these vehicles at the request of
individuals and companies who wish to bet on "ecological sources of energy
generation".
In 2015 the concept of the
Torq was presented, a sustainable vehicle designed by Excellent Design, of
Davide Pizzorno. 75% of its structure is made of cannabis fiber and its engine
runs on hydrogen, E85 or distilled hemp. This vehicle has several details that
are innovative, such as its head: it is made of a ceramic material, which means
that it does not need oil for lubrication.
The cannabis fiber is worked
like carbon fiber: a fabric is achieved that solidifies just like this. The
Torq postulates itself as an ecological car because it uses natural materials
for both the structure and the body, as well as fuel.
Currently, component manufacturers such as the French
Faurecia use tons of a variation of this plant, known as hemp, to extract the
fiber and produce biomaterials.
Among the benefits of using biomaterials in cars is
that they reduce the weight of the components, which saves fuel.
There are many countries where the plant is not
legalized so it is impossible to mass produce these vehicles to export to
countries. Due to these the production costs per order are between 40,000
dollars approximately, without adding the requirements of the client.
This is only one of the edges of the cannabis industry
that proves necessary that it is legalized in all the countries, to get the
most of this wonderful plant that every time seems to surprise us more and
more.
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