Alternative Fuel Source :: essays research papers

In one year, America will have tire out 80% of her petroleum reserves. Will we then go to war with the Arabs for the privilege of driving our cars? Will we strip-mine our land for coal and poison the air we breathe to withdraw our autos an additional 100 years? Will we raze our forests for our energy needs? I certainly hope our country will never come to those conclusions. However, someone must make a conclusion hopefully toward an alternate fuel source. The fuel source I would propose is biomass fuel derived from hemp.Hemp is the worlds most versatile plant. It actually improves the soil in which it grows, without chemical fertilizers, while choking out weeds by virtue of its fast dense growth. harmonize to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, over a twenty year period one acre planted with hemp produces as much pulp as 4.1 acres of trees. land hemp at such a fast rate is the key to providing large enough amounts of raw biomass at costs low enough to modify cellulose (the hydr ocarbon provider necessary for fuel production) to recapture lost markets. This versatility has led people to believe it is the only biomass resource capable of making America energy independent. on that point is only one catch the federal government prohibited the growth of hemp in 1938. There were also theories that the major energy industries of the late 30s collaborated to turn back a petroleum-based energy market. Regardless of laws, let us consider hypotheticals. Farmers would be practically guaranteed profit if they could grow hemp for biomass. It also would not take coarse for a measly 6% of the American landmass to start cultivating hemp enough to replace our economys dependence on fossil fuels.