cannabisnews.com: Car Fueled by Hemp Oil on Real Trip Car Fueled by Hemp Oil on Real Trip Posted by FoM on July 07, 2001 at 10:24:56 PT By Ian Shedd, Register Staff Source: New Haven Register When this 1985 Mercedes Turbo Diesel drives into New Haven, a hint of an illegal odor may follow in its wake. But don't get the wrong idea. This car, fueled entirely by oil derived from hemp seeds, won't give you the munchies.The car is traveling throughout the United States and Canada as a part of a campaign to increase awareness for both the efficiency of biodiesel fuels and the usefulness of hemp in producing fuels. The trip began July 4 in Washington, D.C., and will cover 10,000 miles across the United States and Canada. The New Haven Free Public Library is bringing the car to the New Haven Green on Monday, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.Don Swearingen of Apple Energy of Ohio, a company that processes hemp seeds into fuel, sees biodiesel as the energy source of the future, citing it as the only truly renewable energy source."Biodiesel is a given, it's going to happen," said Swearingen.Proponents of biodiesel view its renewable properties as one of its most positive aspects. "If we planted six percent of America with hemp, we could meet all of America's transportation and energy demands," said Kellie Sigler. Sigler is the co-founder of the hemp car project, along with her husband Grayson.According to Seth Godfrey, a reference librarian at the New Haven Free Public Library, the car's visit fits well with past programs at the library, including its recent exhibit on banned books. "It's important to tackle controversial topics," said Godfrey.In the U.S., hemp growers must obtain a permit from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency in order to legally grow the plant, and even that is only for research purposes. Permits have been issued only twice, according to a spokesman for the DEA.Hemp contains a dozen chemically related compounds called tetrahydrocannabinols, or THC. Only a few produce the psychotropic effects of marijuana, said Lisa Sump, associate director of pharmacy services at Yale-New Haven Hospital.These active THCs are presumably extracted from the seeds before they are used as fuel, she said. "Hemp" is the same plant as marijuana, although it might be a different strain, Stamp said. Hemp therefore would naturally produce all of the chemicals found in marijuana, she said.Hemp used as fuel is grown mainly in Canada, said Swearingen. He uses imported sterilized seeds to produce his fuel, which is legal in the U.S. The Union of Concerned Scientists in Berkeley, Calif., said it had no official position on the use of hemp for fuel. Using waste products however, such as the vegetable oil in fryers, "makes the most environmental sense," said Jason Marks of the group, since you are recycling, as well as producing a clean fuel.He referred to the adventure of two women who traveled across the United States using the grease from McDonald's restaurants to fuel their car.Marks said soybeans are most likely to be used for this kind of fuel in America, but biodiesel holds close to zero percent of the market. "It just emerging as a viable energy option," Marks said. Typically, the car has been met with a positive response in its preliminary voyages to New York City and Washington, D.C., according to Kellie Sigler.Biodiesel fuel is one of the cheapest fuels available, with manufacturing costs hovering around 50 cents to 60 cents per gallon, Swearingen said. The fuel is also very clean when it burns, emitting 90 percent fewer carcinogens than gasoline fuels, he added. The cost gets bigger because of taxes and the fees of middlemen, Swearingen complained."Any 10-year-old can make biodiesel fuel with supervision," he said.Like others involved with the project, Swearingen hopes to see some positive effect come of this trip further down the road. "Ten-thousand miles is an awful lot of visibility," said Swearingen. "It's going to wake people up." Source: New Haven Register (CT)Author: Ian Shedd, Register Staff Published: July 06, 2001 Copyright: 2001, New Haven RegisterContact: letters nhregister.comWebsite: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1281Related Article & Web Sites:Hemp Carhttp://www.hempcar.org/FTE's Hemp Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/hls.htmHemp Car To Make 10,000 Mile Triphttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9417.shtmlCannabisNews Hemp Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/hemp.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #17 posted by scrotz on July 10, 2001 at 18:35:26 PT hemp for fuel very true my friend mayan. something very viable to consider taking stock in. [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by freedom fighter on July 10, 2001 at 08:53:19 PT Swampie, here is another one http://www.veggievan.org/Can take courses from the org. \/ff [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by mayan on July 09, 2001 at 08:37:23 PT Rudy knew! Rudolph Diesel's first engines ran on hemp derived fuels. Imagine what we could do now!The war on drugs is ultimately just a war on industrial hemp.Non-sustainable,non-renewable resources vs. sustainable,renewable resources. I know which side I'm on! Help Hemp!!!http://www.votehemp.comhttp://bodyshop.com/usa/hemp-action/index.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by kaptinemo on July 09, 2001 at 05:55:26 PT: Ask and ye shall receive... Swampie, I hope this helps:PACIFIC BIODIESELhttp://biodiesel.com/How it's done:http://www.mrsharkey.com/busbarn/electrics/chapt18.htmfrom the link:Simply described, a measured volume of vegetable oil is mixed with a solution of methanol and household lye (sodium hydroxide). This mixture is then heated, stirredfor an interval, and then allowed to settle. Further adjustments to the pH of the fuel product, and "washing" to remove free fatty acids and excess methanol are usuallyrequired, and are also not difficult to accomplish. The product of this process usually requires no further finishing and is useable as fuel immediately. another site:BIODIESEL: The clear choicehttp://www.biodiesel.org/Now, I presume that the corporations involved either cold-press their own oils or they purchase them that way. But as you can guess, there would be plenty of small economic niches, from the farmer to the refiner, that could be filled by enterprising small companies. Lot's of money to be made...in doing something that makes very little pollution in any of the steps along the way.Which is why Big Oil was pee-its'-pants scared of it to begin with. [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by SWAMPIE on July 07, 2001 at 20:08:31 PT BIODIESEL/HEMP OIL It would be quite interesting to me, and alot of others to know more about the process of retrieving the oil from the seeds.Do they press it?Render it?I know how to make a Diesel engine run with any thin oil for fuel,the problem is getting the money for research,and the hempseed to make it run.McDonalds only has so much vegetable oil to go around,and,although I have experimented with some,the cost is very prohibitive.If I could afford a Diesel car,I could probably get the veggie oil free,or cheap.Another idea would be to get a Diesel generator for power,and adapt it to run on Biodiesel.I do have alot of synthetic used oil,but I'm not sure how to test it to make sure that it would not cause damage to the environment,or health of others.I guess I should have gone to college...Biodiesel would run very clean,though in a well tuned engine.I work with BIG Diesels! If anyone has any ideas,let me know! Thanx,SWAMPIE [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by The GCW on July 07, 2001 at 17:40:25 PT up the pissedness level During WWII the factories processing hemp fiber into clothing, parachute webbing, threads for shoes, fire hoses and all the lubricating fuels for the airplanes and so forth (supporting the military effort to defend our freedom) were bringing in the hemp raw material and then processing it. The byproduct was enough hemicellulolytic material which they chose to burn as fuel to power their entire process, leaving them with a 50% energy surplus which they resold to the energy industry. The mill did not have any energy cost and they profited from the waste material. Our way = surplus energy. http://www.chrisconrad.com/potpride/ecospirituality.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by FoM on July 07, 2001 at 16:58:05 PT sm247 It makes it so no one else can use your name and that's what makes being red look so good. If you missed the problem you're better off. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by lookinside on July 07, 2001 at 16:55:16 PT: sm247 you look good in red...welcome! [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by sm247 on July 07, 2001 at 15:51:16 PT Back in red I musta missed what happened with the usernames but I did it anyways to b safe .... [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by i420 on July 07, 2001 at 15:47:31 PT Hemp car rules! The word is spreading about hemp was collecting signatures for PRa the other day met several people who knew about hemp but yet there was many that had no clue. We really hope this will set it off ! [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by dddd on July 07, 2001 at 15:02:41 PT CannabisCrusader ....No apology necessary,,in fact,,I think you were quitecivil,and tame,,considering the amount of pissedness...I also am really mad about the situation.The country is nowbeing run by a big oil tycoon from Texas,and the offspring ofthat "What,,Me Worry?.." guy,..they are dumping grillionsof dollars into stuff that the public cannot know about......It makes my blood boil...and if it makes you feelbetter,,,,,I'll go so far as to actually say "fuck!!!!".....I feel that the F word,is now a part of the english language,and there are certain times when it is appropriate to useit,,,as long as it's used sparingly,,and in a tasteful manner....dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Cannabis Crusader on July 07, 2001 at 14:25:17 PT: This Really Pisses Me Off All of this trouble over the energy crisis and the mainstream Media hasn't uttered one word about hemp fuels. That infuriates me!!!! Some people are paying upwards of $2 a gallon when they could be spending only 50 or 60 cents on a gallon. Talk about price-gouging! We can thank the DEA and the "Drug War" for billions, if not trillions, of dollars that have been spent on dirty petroleum fuels. The public has clearly been taken advantage of and someone needs to held responsible. How good do you think the economy would be if the 100's of billions of dollars were being spent on things other than inferior petroleum fuels? The people we elect to office obviously aren't working for us, and the DEA never was. It's just one more reason to end the prohibition of cannabis.Sorry if I got a little hot-headed. It just angers me when the people that we elect to represent us are screwing us right in front of our face. Prohibition of cannabis must end now! [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by dddd on July 07, 2001 at 12:11:18 PT Thank You FoM I really appreciate that......I've been hard boiled,,and scrambled,,,but now days I'm over easy,,,hopefully sunny side up.....LoL.....dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on July 07, 2001 at 11:51:00 PT Good Egg dddd, You're a good egg. I hope you've heard that term before or it might not sound nice but it was meant to be nice. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by dddd on July 07, 2001 at 11:28:24 PT FoM is right sm247 .....ya gotta be careful nowdays,,,,the next thing you know,,we'llsee an sm247 post,,,and it will say that you have made the firsthemp dragster,,which you call "The Shredder",,and that you got into a drag race with Don "The Snake" Prudome,,,in his new dragster,"The Soy Cobra",and you shut him down in the NHRA HempRod Nationals in Cleveland.......no,,I am going to scale back on my inappropriate mischief,,I'vebeen a bit too much of a jester lately,and I may have been somewhatresponsible for encouraging the recent episode,,,,but you would lookgood in red.......I've often wondered what the "sm" stands for?247 I thinkI know........Peace....dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on July 07, 2001 at 10:43:21 PT sm247 Hi sm247,I just lucked into finding this article. If you find any please send them to me and I'll get them posted. I hope we can get articles on the Hemp Car's trip from sea to shining sea.PS: You might want to consider registering your name after the problems we just had. You sure don't have to but I thought I'd mention it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by sm247 on July 07, 2001 at 10:35:16 PT Say yes to hemp ! Awsome article hope to hear a lot more about this journey. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment