Current carbon removal technologies face severe limitations: Direct Air Capture can be expensive and requires massive energy inputs while nature-based solutions like forests take decades to mature and remain vulnerable to fire and disease.
Hemp grows in different climates, does not need fertiliser and is resistant against fungi and pests. It grows up to 4 meters tall in 100 days and absorbs 8-22 tons of atmospheric CO2 in the process. Through pyrolysis (thermal decomposition of organic materials at high temperatures in the absence of oxygen), the organic carbon turns to charcoal, or biochar. Biochar is stable, meaning the captured CO2 is bound forever.
Hemp biochar offers something different: a solution that works with today’s technology, creates permanent carbon storage, and generates revenue rather than just costs.
Key findings of the study include:
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Cultivating hemp on ~10 billion ha meadows/grazing land (~30% of current meadow/grazing) could absorb 10 billion tonnes of atmospheric CO2 per year
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Deployment to achieve this scale would require 10 years
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Hemp carbon sequestration is 10x cheaper than direct air carbon capture & storage (DACCS; $45 vs $600/tCO2)
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Hemp co-products offset costs (even with price collapse due to increased supply): hemp products could create a market worth several trillion dollars by 2035
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Yield per hectare of hemp crop: 3-4 tonnes of biochar for permanent carbon sequestration and soil improvement; 2.5-3.5 tonnes of fibre for textiles and composite materials worth $800-2,000 per tonne; and 3.5-5 tonnes of hurds for construction materials and insulation worth $200-500 per tonne
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Global deployment of hemp biochar as carbon removal would create 100-150 million jobs globally (taking into account job replacement in agriculture, construction material and textile industries) – one of the largest job creation programs in history. These jobs would primarily benefit rural communities in developing countries where employment is most desperately needed.
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Capital investment requirements amount to U$ 4.8 trillion distributed over 10 years (including agricultural measurements, transport, processing, R&D)
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Pay-back time of the investments is expected to occur after less than 3 years under the most optimistic scenario, and 11 years in the most conservative case
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Low energy requirements (feasible with current grid infrastructure)