Meet the Kerstel and its hemp composite body

Soon, you’ll be able to drive hemp. Literally, thanks to the Kestrel car, named after the colorful raptor.

Right now, Canadian company Motive Industries, Inc., is testing the materials for a biocomposite hybrid electric car made from hemp and other natural and synthetic fibers. If all goes according to plan, Motive will finish its prototype mid-2011, and make the car available to the public in late-2012 or -2013, according to Nathan Armstrong, Motive’s president.

The material used to manufacturer the body is impact-resistant composite from hemp mats; these are supplied by Alberta Innovates-Technology Future (AITF), while hemp is grown in Vegreville, Atlanta. Here’s the kicker, AITF is Crown corporation, owned by the Canadian government.

“Plus, it’s illegal to grow it in the U.S., so it actually gives Canada a bit of a market advantage,” said Armstrong to the CBC.

The four-passenger, three-door electric vehicle—created to showcase new automotive technology coming out of Canada—can reach speeds of almost 85 mph. It’s the result of Madbolg.audubon.com

Historically, hemp has proven to be a versatile and durable substance and therein lies the contradiction. For nearly a century now, Hemp has been overlooked and under-appreciated as a viable alternative to cotton, possibly as a result of its connotative association with marijuana. To clarify, hemp has no psychoactive properties.

PROS: Hemp fibre is surprisingly useful as a cotton, paper, cellulosic or polymer substitute when it is treated correctly. As a crop, it is low-maintenance and resilient, and requires none of the weeding and heavy use of pesticides usually required in farming.  Hemp is particularly effective as a source for textiles. The fibres drawn from the hemp plant are the strongest and longest in nature. Fabrics, twines, yarns and cords made from hemp are durable and versatile. It can be combed into any gauge or quality of fibre. As a substitute for such diverse substances as cotton, trees, or petroleum, hemp proves to be more environmentally sound than all of its alternatives (requiring about 10% of the water needed to produce cotton) and its versatility and resilience make it economically sound as well.

CONS: Hemp fibre is characterised by undesirable susceptibility to moisture and rot due to moulds and mildews and the like. It is also characterized by a strong, naturally-occurring odour which makes it unacceptable as a substitute for other odourless fibres. Moreover, hemp fibre in its natural spun state is susceptible to fraying and has a rough hand and feel. A need therefore remains for a hemp product which is suitably strong, soft, flexible, moisture-resistant and rot-resistant and generally suitable for substitution in applications previously focused on the cotton, paper and petroleum-fibre industries.

Hempflax are the leaders in this field in Europe and are based in Holland.

News has reached us that the world-renowned author, activist and marijuana anti-prohibitionist Jack Herer suffered a heart attack this weekend.  Emergency crews were called in as he collapsed in his chair after delivering a fiery speech at the Portland Hempstalk Event at Kelly Point Park. After spending a lengthy amount of time stabilizing Jack at the scene, he was transported to the Emanuel Trauma Center in Portland in critical condition with his son at his side. Soon after that, his family were told that he was the victim of a heart attack, a result of arterial blockage.

Jack is arguably the best-known person in the world on the subject of marijuana; he is an icon of popular culture and his book, “The Emperor Wears No Clothes” is the largest and first account of the real story of marijuana and the techniques used by big money corporations to demonize and criminalize it.

Jack suffered a stroke a few years ago that had left him somewhat challenged in terms of speaking, but those who heard him speak at the rally on Saturday afternoon noted that his speech was much clearer than it had been in many years.

In an ironic twist, an interview recorded 2 hours before the heart attack with friend Dr. Phillip Leveque of Salem-News.com, hears Jack explaining how he has been feeling better recently, stating: “I’m healthier than I’ve been in ages… in 10 years!”

Last night the doctors put him in an induced coma and lowered his body temperature with ice. They are keeping him this way for 48 more hours. His heart is doing well for now so they think he will be ok soon. Early reports that he underwent angioplasty are unfounded.

There are no equals to Jack Herer; he is a massive inspiration to us all – we have a huge amount of respect for his dedication to the cause; he is an inspirational figure and a genuine trailblazer. We wish Jack all the best and we hope that he makes a full and complete recovery. At this time, our thoughts go out to his son and wonderful wife Jeannie Herer.

UPDATE (17/09/09): Jack has been taken off of the medications that were keeping him in a state of induced coma. He is not awake yet and the doctors are saying that it may be a few days before …he comes out of the coma. Jack swallowed some fluid into his lung’s during the heart – attack and this caused a minor infection. He is considered stable at this time just in a comatose state.  Good luck Jack – we’re all rooting for you friend! ]]> http://weedforneed.com/2009/09/jack-herer-suffers-heart-attack/feed/ 0 http://weedforneed.com/2009/08/hanes-invests-in-hemp/ http://weedforneed.com/2009/08/hanes-invests-in-hemp/#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:45:56 +0000 kanaman http://marijuanacannabis.wordpress.com/?p=661 ]]>

After a decade trying to prove that hemp could be soft as cotton, one American company is starting to draw the attention to its product from some of the world’s biggest consumer brands.

Based in Portland, Oregon – Naturally Advanced Technologies Inc. – has developed an enzyme treatment which makes organic fibres (principally hemp and flax) suitable for producing clothes and other uses.  This treatment is known as “Crailar Fiber Technology”.  Here’s the information that Naturally Advanced provides about Crailar on their website:

“CRAILAR employs a simple, efficient 100% organic, enzyme bath and scales easily to leverage the global industrial hemp industry. In addition, CRAILAR Organic Fiber will be cost-comparable to organic cotton. Therefore, CRAILAR enables the transformation of hemp into a better sustainable alternative to organic cotton. “

Some of the world’s biggest consumer brands have displayed serious commercial interest in Crailar after a string of successful tests conducted at North Carolina State University which, according to Naturally Advanced CEO, Ken Barker, proved hemp can easily transition away from being a niche consumer fabric.

One of the world’s largest consumer apparel brands -  Hanesbrands Inc. ($4.2 billion in sales ‘08-’09) have just entered into a joint development agreement with Naturally Advanced to retrofit their existing dyeing equipment with the company’s enzyme process to study how its organic fibers can be entered into mainstream production.  Although this is currently just a test, it is just phase one of what is seen as a major move towards the commercialization of hemp.

This news provides further proof that even large companies like Hanes are becoming aware of the potential hemp has and are starting to invest.  One major issue remains; the cost of production.  This is still a major obstacle in hemp becoming more than simply a niche product, but when asked about the deal with Hanesbrands, Ken Barker recently stated that:

“Crailar shrinks far less during production than cotton, the resulting savings could bring its final cost closer to regular cotton than organic cotton, which is 60 percent more expensive than regular cotton.” and that the partnership (with Hanes) serves as “absolute validation that our technology is viable and capable of mainstream apparel production.

While Barker said it’s too early to guess how lucrative the Hanes deal could become, Matt Hall, VP of external communications at Hanesbrands, said that although the idea isn’t to replace cotton, if Crailar can be commercialized, it would mean being able to produce organic fibers for everyday products at competitive prices.

Alongside the deal with Hanes, Naturally Advanced also reached a spinning and trademark licensing deal with Patrick Yarns of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, a maker of industrial yarns, to produce Crailar products for denim, work wear, home furnishings and carpet markets; and a manufacturing agreement with Philadelphia dyehouse G.J. Littlewoods & Son Inc., which will produce the fabric ordered by Patrick Yarns.

In what could be an equally sizable deal, the company in June signed a development deal with Georgia Pacific Consumer Products LP, which makes household paper products such as Brawny paper towels. Barker said he was prohibited from disclosing details of the agreement.

The European leader in the production of industrial hemp fibre is Hempflax, based in Holland.

Thanks to “HEMPFLAX” (a company founded in 1994 by Ben Dronkers, founder of Sensi Seeds) it is finally possible to grow cannabis 100% legally, whether it is in an effort to reduce your carbon footprint or simply to enjoy the beauty of the plant!

Hempflax recently launched their new website: www.hempflax.com where you can buy 5000 Cannabis Sativa seeds (100 grams) for only 50 Euros!!  The seeds come with a certificate identifying them as “USO-31 cannabis seeds” and can be legally (and easily) grown anywhere in Europe.

By buying your “USO-31? seeds you will also be adopting a100m2 field in Holland which will be used to grow cannabis. Below is a copy of the certificate you will receive as proof:

My personal hope is that enough people will start to do this in order to demonstrate how ridiculous the law is and render items such as the “CANNACOPTER”  (a remote-controlled dutch toy helicopter equipped with a camera used to “sniff out” cannabis cultivation) useless…  I wish I was joking:

Although there has been some publicity in trade publications, yesterday saw the launch of 15 second long TV commercials on Comedy Central in Holland:

EDIT: Please note that the THC content of USO 31 seeds is less then 0.2 percent, conform to European legislation. The focus is on the environmental benefits of cannabis rather then growing smokable marijuana.