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  • 1.  Solar powered factories making hemp batteries and the future is hemp buildings?

    Posted 03-30-2023 02:14 AM
    Edited by Kathy Ging 03-31-2023 11:59 AM
    Solar 

    Solar powered factories making hemp batteries should be a direction. David Mitlin has a patent on hemp batteries. Others working on hemp batteries. Hemp was found to be a substitute for graphene a few years ago.     
     
    Per one source hemp batteries can be made for up to 200x less than lithium ion which can be fire prone and which involve toxic mining of rare earth materials. Lithium ion supplies 90+% of EV batteries. When fires occur in EVs, they can require 6,000-10,000 gal. of water to extinguish and can be difficult to fully extinguish. Some EVs have re-ignited while being hauled away on flatbed. One EV self ignited not turned on parked on an LA street. Many fire departments not yet trained in fighting these fires.
     
    As David Blume said on talk radio last year, author of AlcoholCanBeaGas.com, aging grid will NOT be able to supply an all electric USA including homes, electric vehicles even with planned upgrades in his purview. 
     
    Need plug in hybrids: liquid fuels AND batteries. Yet most are buying battery only operated EVs, cheaper than hybrids, myopic thinking. Will they want to buy another new plug-in hybrid vehicle soon? Are federal/state incentives being given to the 'wrong' vehicles now?
     
    EVs have several problems not talked about in town square-yet. Even EWEB assistant manager of Oregon's largest ratepayer owned utility in Eugene told me they had not considered the following scenario which could unfold with an all battery only powered electric vehicle agenda. .
     
    We have not considered your concern that when people return from 2 week vacation, work trip with battery drained, fire racing over the mountain, a battery only operated vehicle if battery drained will not allow one to get out of Dodge (paraphrased).
     
    Or if a rolling brown out occurs now allowed in some states like Oregon by PUC; or if cyber attack occurs on grid. Unlike battery in gas powered cars, EV batteries not easily switched, cost 4k-20k requiring professional several hour installation; not readily available with supply chain issues growing worse in recent years. 
     
    PG&E in CA went bankrupt because they did NOT turn off the grid and fires caused huge numbers of homes to go up in flames. It is not just the West with abundant forests but also Colorado, Texas, areas in Canada that have recently experienced devastating fires. 

    As a residential Realtor for 35 years I am particularly concerned about fires and the need to preserve house stock. Some consternation also whether wireless Smart Meters widespread now can and have triggered fires and explosions. Twelve pages of examples were on the Net worldwide +/-12 years ago which utilities ignored continuing Smart Grid build-out.

    Some insurance companies have not covered houses having wireless Smart Meters damaged by fires blaming fires on older wiring which most have in my city Eugene OR and many others. Smart Meter manufacturers generally also refuse to cover damages. In Portland OR the private utility IOU replaced 70,000 wireless Smart Meters due to several fires a decade ago.
     
    HEMP HOUSING: Need fire resistant/ proof houses made of hemp like hempcrete used since the 80s in Europe e.g., Perriers in France who now build 300 hemp homes a year most architecturally designed. 

    Hemp blocks, hemp bricks more recently are being used as they require less time for building and do not require the caution requisite for working with hemp hurds mixed with lime, sometimes other mineral and water to make hempcrete which can be highly caustic requiring protective gear and optimally training by one experienced with this material. Hurds of hemp are processed via decortication from left over hollow stalks of the non mind-elevating hemp family cultivars after high grade green bast fiber on outer part of stems used for high grade purposes like textiles, paper et al. Smaller Shiv sizes make bioplastics already on the market in some Green Cross dispensaries, cutlery at supermarkets delis and elsewhere. Surf/ skate boards, car body panels, lawn furniture, frisbees have been made of hemp. 

    Hemp houses can last 600-800 years; require less labor than standard construction, an estimated savings of 20-25% and can be constructed faster than conventional housing.  

    Insurance companies have informed people in some areas that had devastating fires that they will NOT insure new houses!  Designing fire resistant houses essential in fire prone rural aras and even in cities as New Urbanism creates more dense and stack and pack housing to accommodates housing needs. A scooter with a lithium battery recently caused a fire in a NYC apartment building injuring 5 fire-fighters.

    Some insurance companies have refused to sell hazard insurance in certain areas for a decade+ due to flooding and rising tides in coastal areas even in areas not far from lakes, rivers, streams. A local home building association employee initially unable to insure her home.                                                                                                                                                                                                     
    Regarding longevity: put Ellora Caves India in search engine to find that 7 years ago it was discovered that these 1,500 year old elegant temples have 10% hemp material in the composite. A director from India made a presentation at the International Hemp Symposium in France last year. 
     
    JustBiofiber.com in Canada had $20M back orders of hemp blocks two years ago; orders for 20 more factories in 14 nations needs more investment money.

    EarthMerchant.com WA state doing Equity Crowd Funding, woman owned company received $100k from EPA in 2019 setting up a Farmer's Network: from Earth Merchant site:  We’ve created a transparent supply chain of hemp building products, processed materials and carbon capturing technology via our proprietary digital platform as a service.

    These hemp-based products will provide sustainable housing materials and a robust supply of processed raw materials for other manufacturers and innovators who aim to directly impact our climate.

    The consistent and scalable supply chain will be driven by our farmer and processors networked by regional locations, further mitigating carbon output by growing, processing and manufacturing locally.

    Farms are within 100 miles or less to processing and manufacturing hub known as a Hemplex. This keeps it hyper-local mitigating emissions.
    Regional Distribution: products and raw materials are distributed no more than 1000 miles from a Hemplex location. clip

    Other hemp block factories exist in CO, TX, Belgium, Australia,, E and W Canada some exhibiting now at NO Co Hemp Expo in COlorado late March 2023. Optimally a hemp block factory wold exist in every state and country. 
     
    Cooler in summer, warmer in winter, rodent, termite, mold resistant even proof with superior acoustics, that sequester carbon years after built, found to be not only carbon neutral but also carbon negative,  hemp homes have a great future if designers, architects and prospective home owners can learn about them and to work with this innovative but ancient resilient material grown essentially from a weed. Grow enough non mind-elevating industrial hemp on 3 acres 4 mos. to build a 2,000 sf house. Regarding Cradle to Cradle: hempcrete can return to the earth. 
     
    Hemp houses are often art works, see 350 colored photos in Steve Allin's Building with Hemp. 
     
    See Steve's Hempbuilding.com  My Facebook page has hemp updates since Sept. 2020 when Eugene OR's recreational paradise Blue River burned to the ground like Paradise CA in a prior year. 

    When will we learn not to enable future houses to burn still using incendiary old school designs and materials in a changing climate paradigm? Design with Climate not just the name of an old book!
     
    Most hemp houses use wood or metal frames. Hempcrete on the exteriors looks like stucco and on interior looks like plaster provides fire proof barriers. Hemp roof tiles resembling cedar siilar to wod composites that were made decades ago also can profice fire proofing
     
    Hemp is the green sustainable non-toxic eco-building material the world needs. EcoBuilding.org a PNW nonprofit has existed since early 90s has had  hemp house presentations at annual retreats; crowd funded for a Boomer's tiny hemp house on wheels.
     
    USHBA.Org US Hemp Building Assn. professionals volunteered 400 hours to help get hemp building legalized in the USA Sept. 2022.
     
    $99 membership now gets 2nd edition of Jean Lotus' international directory of 400+ hemp building products 25 nations, 25 categories including several products USA made, interviews with world leaders building with hemp. 

    Her directory alone $69. Jean an award winning professional journalist 2,200 articles now focuses on industrial hemp having had the ost 'hits' on hemp building block articles. Has free Hemp Club House chats Thurs. afternoons archived; and free HempBuildMag.com 'Your Green Built Revolution' monthly mag.

    Recent issue features a non-toxic all electric tiny house on a trailer that can tie into solar panels with passive solar feature using interior patented Z panels on a heat sink Trombe wall by Sativa Building Systems in Wisconsin. Roof/sides made primarily of metal. See YouTube. 
     
    Check out Global Hemp Innovation Center, Corvallis OR 80 employees, 29 fields since June 2019. 

    I just received hemp wood floor samples from Hempwood.com in KT $25 postpaid and will order HempWool tm insulation resembling fiberglass but safer from Hempitecture in ID. Two architecture students a decade ago met and built first commercial hemp building in the USA, recently raised $5M to build HempWool tm factory. 

    PerennialBuilding.com a woman owned company building one of the largest commercial hemp buildings in the USA in Sisters E OR has generated considerable community support.                                



  • 2.  RE: Solar powered factories making hemp batteries and the future is hemp buildings?

    Silver
    Contributor
    Posted 03-31-2023 05:41 AM
    Edited by william fitch 03-31-2023 05:45 AM

    "PG&E in CA went bankrupt because they did NOT turn off the grid and fires caused huge numbers of homes to go up in flames. It is not just the West with abundant forests but also Colorado, Texas, areas in Canada that have recently experienced devastating fires. "

    PG&E went bankrupt because of Capitalistic profit being placed at the head of the pack over safety for the public at large, EVERY step of the way, year over year over year.....
    PG&E DID turn off electric on many occasions after wildfires bit them in the ass a few times, resulting on occasion, having the cure almost worse then the illness.

    I like hemp, but there as always are people with Social skills such as Elizabeth Holmes who can as the very old saying goes, "Promise her anything, but give her Arpège" or bait and switch.

    They need to put forth HARD DATA on Hemp batteries to show its reality rather than smoke and mirrors sales talk. 
    Article on Hemp batteries back in 2022:
    https://cleantechnica.com/2022/10/24/hemp-for-victory-researchers-make-better-cheaper-batteries-from-plant-waste/

    Pilfering and pontificating a very long list of sound bites does not make a SOLID engineering case, against or for something, which is what is required.

    As I said, I like Hemp, but lets follow logical standard procedures and deliverables with verifiability, so it can come to market actually delivering what is claimed.

    As for the rest of your list, its like a 16 course meal and I am on a diet, but I am sure there will be others who will consider the full read...





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    william fitch
    Owner
    www.WeAreSolar.com
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  • 3.  RE: Solar powered factories making hemp batteries and the future is hemp buildings?

    Posted 04-08-2023 02:35 PM

    As for a Hemp battery and EV's I think the proponents have been smoking too much hemp.  look up the power density of hemp batteries and I see an energy density of about 20 watts/kg.  A Tesla Model 3 has about 80kWh pack.  So if the battery were made of hemp the weight would be 4000 kg or 9000 lbs, or 9X more than the current battery.  I am all for improvements on batteries, and maybe hemp can have a place for home or grid storage where weight is not critical.  But I just do not see them for vehicles where weight is a critical factor.



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    David Hrivnak
    Sales/Engineering
    EcoLogical (part time)
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