Hemp Biodiesel 101

By Anthony De Santi

Fuel is one of the most integral parts of society’s infrastructure, being used by
almost every industry in some capacity. However, at current rates of consumption, it’s
estimated that we have approximately 45-50 years of crude oil left. It’s pretty clear that
we need a solution to this problem, and a sustainable one at that.

Biodiesel is a type of diesel fuel created from fatty acids that are derived from
plants and animals. Since it’s a form of diesel, it can be used in already existing diesel
engines, making it a sensible replacement for standard diesel fuel. While adopting
newer technologies is very appealing, the cost of replacing existing infrastructure on a
large scale means it isn’t always a possibility.

There are many benefits of using hemp to produce biodiesel. It has a high oil to
fuel conversion rate, high fuel yields, it’s a versatile and robust crop, and cultivating it
has some environmentally beneficial effects. Let’s take a look at some other crops used
to produce biodiesel and see how hemp stands up.

Currently, the leading crops for biodiesel production are canola, soybean, and oil
palm. Hemp has a fuel yield of approximately 784L per hectare, compared to canola at
386L, soybean at 210L, and oil palm at 871L 1. This means that compared to canola and
soybean, hemp requires less than half the amount of land to produce the same amount
of fuel.

Although oil palm has a higher fuel yield than hemp, it is much more limited in its
growing conditions, and cannot be cultivated in most climates. Hemp on the other hand
can be grown in a wide variety of climates, making it a much more practical crop than oil
palm in many parts of the world. In fact, the hemp plant is so robust that it can even
grow in unfertile soil, allowing the use of more optimal land for farming food crops. The
hardiness of hemp also makes it inexpensive and relatively easy to cultivate, resulting in
a more economically viable solution than most forms of biodiesel production.

1
Ashak Mahmud Parvez, Jonathan David Lewis, Muhammad T. Afzal. Potential of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa
L.) for bioenergy production in Canada, Challenges and Outlook 2021
 While yields and growing conditions are important, another major factor in fuel
production is its environmental impact. Sulfur oxides, being one of the primary pollutants
in diesel fuel, are a vital thing to measure when gaging its environmental effects.
Biodiesels generally have extremely small amounts sulfur compared to standard diesel,
which is part of what makes them more environmentally friendly. Hemp biodiesel,
however, has some of the lowest sulfur content of any biodiesel. It has roughly 50% less
sulfur than soybean, 80% less sulfur than canola, and over 90% less sulfur than oil
palm2. This means its one of the cleanest biodiesels among the leading competition.

Another environmental concern regarding fuels are their carbon dioxide

emissions. No matter what, burning fuels will always produce carbon dioxide. But the
hemp plant is unique in that it consumes carbon dioxide much faster than most plants,
allowing the plants themselves to diminish the carbon footprint of the fuel they produce.
Because of this, hemp biodiesel is considered a carbon neutral alternative for standard
diesel fuel.3

One of the greatest advantages of producing biodiesel from crops is that it only
requires oil from the seeds, allowing the crop to be harvested and used for other
purposes. While there is a large range of practical applications for industrial hemp, in
regards to producing biofuel it has a very distinct benefit over other crops. The hemp
plant is one of the few plants that produces a high yield in both oil and biomass. While
the oil can be used to produce biodiesel, the biomass can be used to produce
bioethanol, another environmentally friendly biofuel. When this is coupled with the fact
that hemp outproduces almost every other crop in biodiesel, it becomes quite clear that
industrial hemp has the potential to be an energy powerhouse.

2
Ashak Mahmud Parvez, Jonathan David Lewis, Muhammad T. Afzal. Potential of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa
L.) for bioenergy production in Canada, Challenges and Outlook 2021
3
Ahmad Alcheikh. Advantages and Challenges of Hemp Biodiesel Production: A Comparison of Hemp vs Other
Crops Commonly Used for Biodiesel Production