Perhaps nothing illustrates the unbelievable usefulness (and power) of industrial hemp better than an article on the world’s first plane fabricated entirely from hemp.
Hempearth, the Canadian cannabis firm, has designed the world’s first plane made and powered by hemp – the non-psychoactive member of the cannabis family 10 times stronger than steel. Interestingly, everything from the seats, the wings, the plane walls and even the pillows are made from hemp. The plane, with a wingspan of 36 feet, can hold one pilot and four passengers. What’s more? It runs on 100% hemp oil!
Yes. Not only is the plane’s fuselage made of hemp, so are all the parts and accessories. And yes, the plane is even powered by hemp.
This is not merely some marketing gimmick. As a construction material, hemp is 10 times stronger than steel and lighter than traditional aerospace materials. Aircraft made from hemp require significantly less fuel to achieve altitude.
Also noted in the article on the hemp-plane:
Hempearth is also developing hemp composites in Montreal, which could replace all fiberglass in aviation and other industries — such as construction.
An organic construction material with superior properties that is derived from an extremely eco-friendly crop (hemp requires both less land and water than cotton). That’s not a gimmick.
Hemp can also be converted into a 100% renewable biofuel with enough power-generation capacity to operate aircraft.
Industrial hemp already had thousands of known applications. Here are a few more.
Whether hemp aircraft become a commercially viable industry is entirely unknown. However, as an environmentally-friendly construction material that is extremely strong and versatile, we could be looking toward a future world made of hemp.
The potential of cannabis to revolutionize the global economy is (seemingly) limited only by our own imaginations.