Fuel prices soaring: how can Hemp help us?
Which crop has excellent potential for biofuel production? The answer lies in the column by agronomist engineer Lorenzo Rolim da Silva.
By Lorenzo Rolim da Silva
Fuel prices have been increasing significantly in recent months, being one of the main culprits for the rise in inflation, both in Brazil and worldwide.
A challenging harvest marked by extreme drought in the southern region of the country has decreased our total projected production of soybeans and corn, two crops used for biodiesel and ethanol production, respectively. The total sugarcane harvest was reduced by 13% in 2021, also affected by drought and untimely heat periods. Sugarcane is another very important agricultural crop for ethanol production in the country, a fuel that is added to gasoline by force of law in Brazil.
And guess which crop has excellent potential for biofuel production? Besides offering greater diversity to rural producers to work in years with adverse weather conditions?
Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is a versatile crop with a long history of cultivation. It has potential in numerous industries for its fiber, oil, medicinal compounds, and also as a raw material for bioenergy and biofuels.
The challenges for hemp cultivation and processing are slowly decreasing worldwide through new legislation, for example, the legalization of Cannabis use in Colombia and Uruguay between 2015 and 2017, the legalization of hemp and cannabis in Paraguay in 2019, and more recently advancements in several other countries such as Ecuador, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and various others in Latin America, creating investment and development opportunities in the agricultural sector.
Industrial hemp is considered an excellent raw material for bioenergy purposes, given its high biomass production and energy yields compared to other plant raw materials, such as cereal grains. Liquid fuels created from crops like industrial hemp are usually produced through conversion processes, such as transesterification, anaerobic digestion, and pyrolysis. These biofuels are often blended with conventional fuels, such as diesel and gasoline, to form mixtures, as required by law in Brazil with sugarcane ethanol, requiring a minimum content between 25-27%, depending on whether it is regular or premium gasoline.
The table below was taken from the article "Potential of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) for bioenergy production in Canada: status, challenges, and prospects", published in 2021, and compares biofuel production from hemp with other agricultural crops:
| Crop | Productivity (L/ha) | Sulfur Content (ppm) | Combustion Point (ºC) | Viscosity at 40ºC (mm²/s) |
| Hemp | 784 | 0.4 | 162 | 5.13 |
| Palm Oil | 871 | 10 | 175 | 4.43 |
| Canola | 386 | 2.4 | 96 | 4.37 |
| Soybean | 210 | 1.1 | 138 | 3.15 |
| Corn | 170 | - | 180 | 4.6 |
| Algae | - | 0.06-0.19 | 130 | 5.7 |
It is evident that hemp is highly productive for biofuel production processes when compared to other major crops, largely due to its ability to produce large amounts of biomass in short periods of time. We can conclude that this is another area where hemp could be helping the lives of Brazilians, increasing our fuel production and consequently lowering the prices that Brazilians face every time they refuel their cars.
How long will we have to wait and just watch other countries already living with this reality? How long will we be hostages of regulations that seem to never materialize?
Think about this when casting your vote in the next election.
The opinions expressed in this article are personal and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sechat.
About the author:
Lorenzo Rolim da Silva is an Agronomist Engineer and President of LAIHA (Latin American Industrial Hemp Association).