You probably already know that the hemp plant has a lot of different applications besides the one which alters your mental state. To begin with, more and more people are turning to marijuana essential oils and other hemp-based products to ease their various medical conditions, such as anxiety, seizures, gastrointestinal problems, and physical pain induced by a number of different factors.
In fact, the very same applications are now becoming increasingly present in veterinary medicine too. Pet owners, farmers, and even a few vets themselves are introducing weed treatments to their animals for pretty much the exact same ailments that we humans use it for. There are even websites that offer information on both human and veterinary uses of it, and are therefore universal knowledge hubs, such as CBD Methods – The #1 Guide to Learning About CBD.
Along with all of that, the hemp plant has also found a place in various industries, including architecture, landscaping, food, and energy management. Such hemp is a strain of the species Cannabis sativa, just like recreational weed, but contain far less THC and is grown for targeted industrial (or medical) purposes. We have compiled an overview of the various uses of so-called industrial hemp in the many spheres of human life and activity. Check out what else your medicine can achieve!
For building
Hemp can be combined with lime to make blocks of a material very similar to concrete (appropriately called “hemp lime”), which are used for insulation. These blocks cannot be used for actual structural applications, because they are not strong enough on their own: there has to be some steel wood, or bricks to make a supporting frame. Notably, though, hemp fibers can be used as a great, durable, breathable alternative to traditional wood.
Hemp lime, also known as hempcrete, credits its first application to Charles Rasetti, who used it to renovate the Nogent-sur-Seine Maison de la Turquie back in 1986. Since then, it has become a boom in the Renewable Housing trend. Another mix material, known as hemp plaster, can be used instead of regular plaster as internal insulation. With the current craze for eco-friendliness and green living, no wonder hemp sales are rapidly rising. You can read an informative news piece about that at this link.
For composites and plastic
Right in line with its architectural use, hemp has also been present in composite materials since around 2002. It is most notably applied in the production of car panels. For this purpose, it is mixed with flax, fiberglass, and kenaf.
Kenaf, in case you are unfamiliar with it, is a type of fiber gained from the plant of the same name. The plant is a type of hibiscus. Its Latin name is Hibiscus cannabinus, which also makes it known as “Deccan hemp.”
For controlling undesirable weeds
Sounds kind of counterintuitive, does it not? Let’s plant some weed to get rid of other weed? What? Well, in landscaping, it actually makes perfect sense. Hemp grows quite tall, its foliage is rather thick, and it has no problem with being planted densely together with other specimens of its kind.
In other words, it is an awesome “smother crop” – it kills stubborn weeds by taking away all of the resources for life. Learn more about smother crops at this link: https://worldagriculturesolutions.com/tag/smother-crops/
Using weed as a “bad weed killer” is a great alternative to herbicides. It is a nice way to win organic certification, and fits in very well in systems that employ crop rotation. On the flip side, it does grow densely and rapidly, so some areas regard it as just as much of a pest as other undesirable greens.
For food
Yep, you can eat it. The edible parts are the seeds and the leaves. The seeds of the hemp plant are consumed as either a meal, raw, sprouted, or as dried sprout powder. They are also employed in baking.
People on meat-free diets love them because they pack quite a bit of hemp protein. If cold-pressed, they will produce oil which has a lot of unsaturated fatty acids. The down side is that it spoils quickly, especially when exposed to light or kept in a warm place, so make sure to keep it refrigerated in airtight containers if you decide to introduce it to your own kitchen.
The leaves are not as nutritious, but they can make for nice leafy salads. Like the seeds, they can also be pressed, to make juice.
For energy storage
This is admittedly still an experimental application, not fully developed, but rather promising overall. There have been attempts in the energy management industry to develop a better solution for super capacitors.
Typically, these depend on graphene, but using industrial jhute waste fiber as a replacement resulted in a storage solution that is much cheaper to build, and much more powerful. The experimental hemp supercapacitors could store twelve watt-hours per each kilogram, double the capacity of graphene ones.
As a biofuel
In recent times, demand has been increasing for biodiesel, a more eco-responsible alternative to traditional diesel and fossil fuels. It is based on animal fats or vegetable oils, and therefore harmful carbon emissions are drastically lesser.
It can be made from marijuana too, from the stalks and seeds, and such a fuel is occasionally referred to as hempoline. In turn, if the entire plant is used (processed by way of fermenting it), it results in an alcoholic fuel – chiefly ethanol, more rarely methanol.
If hemp oil is properly filtered, it can be directly applied to diesel engines, but its use is overall tiny-scaled. Palm seeds, coconut, various cereals, kitchen waste, general garbage, animal feces, dead animals and plants, and waste waters are still more widely used as raw materials for biodiesel (and biogas too) because they are notably cheaper and arguably have a greater recycling impact.
How many of these hemp benefits did you know about? What do you like to use it for? Tell us in the comments!