Voedsel Cannabis CEO Innocent Mahufe stands in a nursery with a cannabis crop at a farm in Shamva, Zimbabwe, on September 17, 2021. The company is one of the few that are legally allowed to farm the crop for export. Picture: Aaron Ufumeli/EPA-EFE
Research suggests that hemp is twice as effective as trees at absorbing and locking up carbon, with one hectare of hemp estimated to absorb eight to 22 tons of CO₂ a year, researchers have recently revealed, citing a report by the Guardian.
A team of scientists from Hudson Carbon, a research centre in New York that studies carbon storage, say cannabis could be the missing player in humanity’s fight against climate change, citing a report that appeared on Benzinga.com.
How, you may ask? Hemp absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere more than twice as effectively as trees.
Hemp is also one of the fastest-growing plants in the world and can grow 4m high in 100 days.
According to researchers at the University of Aberdeen, hemp is one of the oldest traded plants in the world, with cultivation in Scotland starting as far back as the 11th century.
“In 2018, Scottish agricultural emissions were 7.5 million tons of CO₂e (carbon dioxide equivalent). According to researchers, hemp is twice as effective as trees when it comes to sinking carbon. Working on the basis that one hectare of farmed hemp absorbs 22 tons of CO₂, just 170 455 hectares of hemp could absorb all the emissions produced by Scotland’s agricultural sector if the crop is grown twice a year, ” said University of Aberdeen researcher Wisdom Dogbe.
Researchers have found that CO₂ is also permanently fixed in the hemp fibres, which can go on to be used for many commodities including textiles, medicines, insulation for buildings, and concrete.
In October last year, South Africa’s Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza announced the opening of the application process for hemp permits.
The South African government said the decision followed the declaration of hemp as an agricultural crop under the Plant Improvement Act No 53 of 1976.
In South Africa, this act provides for import and export control of certain plants and propagating material, maintaining the quality of such plants and propagating material, and ensuring the usefulness of the products thereof for agricultural and industrial purposes.
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