Is Hemp worth more attention?
Hello, I’m new. Sorry in advance if this is totally irrelevant to EA and the work you are doing here.
I was curious what EA’s perspective is on industrial/commercial growing of hemp?
Here are some of the ways hemp is beneficial:
Hemp grows very easily and quickly
Hemp is great for carbon capture
Hemp is a bioenergy fuel
Hemp is super versatile—it can be used for plastic, paper, cloth, food supplements and more
Hemp plastics are non-toxic, pesticide-free, recyclable, biodegradable within six months, is both lighter and 3.5 times stronger than common polypropylene, and is relatively more straight forward to manufacture.
Hemp seed has many health benefits including:
Hemp oil is rich in vitamin E
Hemp seeds are particularly rich in healthy fats, including omega-3 and omega-6
Hemp oil is also rich in gamma linolenic acid (GLA), which has been linked to reduced symptoms of PMS.
Hemp seeds are an excellent source of both soluble and insoluble fiber
Hemp seeds are one of just a few plant foods that are considered “complete” proteins, containing all the essential amino acids.
Does perusing hemp as an alternative align with EA’s goals?
Hey, I don’t know, but I’ll share how I’d start investigating such a question, hoping that would help.
I’m not a professional who does such analyses (so maybe others will correct me), I’m replying as someone from the community trying to be welcoming.
So,
One way I’d look at this question is “how much benefit would I get from investing an extra $1 in Hemp”. This is going to split into two sub questions: “how much benefit do I get” and “how much does it cost”:
First sub question: What is the main benefit (the most important bullet point).
For example, is carbon capture the main benefit, or the vitamins? My prior is: It would be very surprising if the “amount” of benefit I got from each of the bullet points was roughtly the same; usually there’s an 80-20 situation where 80% of the benefit come from one of the bullet points. (For example: at least 80% of the benefit of growing a banana is for food, even if it does a bit for carbon capture and even if banana fields do look cool). So with Hemp, instead of considering 10 different benefits, I’d try to pick the top one.
The next sub question could be “how much does it cost to grow more Hemp (plus do whatever’s needed to get that main benefit, such as produce the plastics, I assume that costs money too)”
And then we have a rough guess at cost effectiveness. If it seems in the vague area of “well maybe, it doesn’t look 1000x less effective than an alternative”, then that might be a hint to look some more.
Another very different question I’d ask is “if Hemp is so good, why doesn’t anyone grow it, sell it, and make lots of money?” (for more on this way of thinking, see Inadequate Equilibria)
Hey, someone just told me what Hemp is, and, hmm, maybe there already are people growing and selling it
I’m going to leave my original comment as-is, as a funny nonsense thing I said online
Brilliant! Thank you so much for the structure and suggestions.
Im trying to learn where I can educate myself and start connecting to and utilising the systems here at EA