14 DAY TRIAL // We're not strangers to the strange, but sometimes even us long-standing tech watchers can get blindsided, and we dare say that the latest research paper to come forth from the American Chemical Society takes the cake.
Why? Because it's not every day, or even every decade, that a scientific organization comes out and says that the answer to all our energy shortage problems lies in dope. Or, as they are otherwise named, narcotics.
Nevertheless, that is precisely what happened. The American Chemical Society has demonstrated that it is possible to make very good batteries by heating hemp.
Hemp is a commonly used term for high growing varieties of the Cannabis plant, as well as the products derived from it. Then again, the use of cannabis as a drug is not what led to the breakthrough, but the other applications.
See, hemp can be processed into many industrial and foodstuff products as well, so the new research is not as bizarre as, say, if the latest miracle in energy efficiency was based on heroin or something equally illegal.
Anyway, the ACS researchers have demonstrated that heating hemp bast fibers in a two-stage process can result in a substance that holds as much energy as graphene, but is a lot cheaper to make.
Also, these surprisingly useful biological leftovers are much better at handling temperature extremes, capable of surviving freezing cold and heats of 200° F / 93.33° C.
This could completely change how technology evolves from here, at least when it comes to power generation and storage. After all, graphene is considered a wonder material, possible to use in pretty much anything, but here's a pile of plant leftovers showing a higher level of worth.
This hemp-based means of creating carbon electrodes may also beat other recent breakthroughs, like the “holy grail” of batteries from the University of Stanford. That method consists of using lithium instead of carbon.
It's not clear if processed hemp could substitute for graphene in other areas, like touchscreens and solar cells. We suppose we'll see soon enough, since unlike the other research propositions, production of hemp-based electrodes has already begun in Canada. Thus, any other applications of the material are bound to reach commercial availability stage before alternatives.
The best part of all this is that hemp-based batteries will cost a pittance to make, because it's basically the same as recycling. The ACS team achieved its breakthrough by using leftover bast fiber, the inner bark left after hemp is grown and used industrially for clothing and building materials, and even food.