14 DAY TRIAL // The state of Hawaii is now in the process of giving the thumbs up to plans to start growing hemp, a plant that is in the same family as marijuana, but whose levels of THC are fairly low. What's interesting is that, as surprising as this may sound, Hawaii's intention to establish a hemp industry is all about environmental protection.
Thus, media reports say that the state wishes to grow hemp for biofuel production and for phytoremediation, otherwise known as just remediation, which is the practice of using various plants to rid soils of various toxic compounds that have built up in it over the years.
To this end, the state proposed a research program that would allow specialists at the University of Hawaii to carry out a detailed investigation into the benefits and potential disadvantages that come with growing hemp for biofuel production and phytoremediation.
The bill in question has not yet been approved into law, but it appears that it will not be long now until high officials announce their final decision concerning the two-year research program into hemp and its potential uses, Grist informs.
The same source details that, according to the bill's text, evidence at hand indicates that hemp is especially efficient when it comes to ridding soils of toxins such as metals, pesticides, solvents, explosives, and even crude oil.
By the looks of it, the plant works by sucking all these compounds from the soil in which it grows and concentrating them in its stem, shoots and leaves. This means that, when the time comes for the plant to be harvested, said toxins accompany it and can be safely disposed of.
“Hemp is a superior phytoremediator because it grows quickly and can extract toxins without the need to remove any of the contaminated topsoil. Other factors that make hemp a superior phytoremediator are its ability to grow unaffected by the toxins it accumulates, its fast rate of absorption, and its ability to bind compounds contaminants from the air and the soil,” the bill reads.
As far as the possibility to use hemp in biofuel production is concerned, the bill argues, “Hemp is an environmentally friendly and efficient feedstock for biofuel. Biodiesel plants could increase their efficiency by utilizing industrial hemp as a feedstock, thus reducing the reliance on imported fuel.”
Interestingly enough, the state of Hawaii is not the first to consider the possibility of growing hemp for biofuel production. On the contrary, a company by the name Extreme Biodiesel has recently announced plans to invest in a similar initiative.