CARBOHYDRATE
ECONOMY
BULLETIN
Volume 1, Number 7, December 2000
CONTENTS
-- Welcome to the Carbohydrate Economy Bulletin
AGRICULTURAL FIBERS
-- DEA to Propose Rules Regarding Hemp Products
-- Former Governor of Kentucky Delivers Hemp to Lakota Sioux
BIOBASED CHEMICALS
-- The House that Soy Built
-- Harvesting Lubricants from Vegetable Oils
BIOFUELS AND BIOENERGY
-- Chicago Becomes First City to Ban MTBE
-- Commodity Credit Corporation Bioenergy Program Sign Up Underway
-- Toward the Federal Biomass Initiative
WELCOME TO THE CARBOHYDRATE ECONOMY BULLETIN
The Carbohydrate Economy Bulletin reports on the growth of an emerging industry based on plant matter-derived industrial products, and on the growth of farmer-owned manufacturing enterprises. The Bulletin contains information on new industry technologies, highlights businesses and their products, and tracks policies that advance a carbohydrate economy.
This Bulletin is published by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), a 26-year-old nonprofit research and educational organization promoting healthy and sustainable local economies.
Visit the Carbohydrate Economy Clearinghouse web page to access a database of hundreds of plant matter-based products, manufacturers, news headlines, reports and events at www.carbohydrateeconomy.org
I. AGRICULTURAL FIBERS
DEA TO PROPOSE RULES REGARDING HEMP PRODUCTS
The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) plans to simultaneously publish three rules in the Federal Register regarding the status of products manufactured from the cannabis plant. The intent to publish the rules was recorded in the Federal Register on November 30, 2000. If proposed and adopted, these rules will likely hinder efforts to legalize industrial hemp and will impact the availability of many products derived from industrial hemp in the United States.
The first rule will be an interpretive rule, which will provide DEA's interpretation of existing law with respect to the listing of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and DEA regulations.
The second rule will propose to revise the wording of the DEA regulations to more clearly reflect DEA's interpretation of the law set forth in the interpretive rule. Under this to-be-proposed rule any substance containing any amount of THC would be classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, regardless of whether it is derived from marijuana or industrial hemp. This rule would also make it clear that the listing of THC in Schedule I includes both natural and synthetic THC.
The third rule would be an interim rule that will exempt certain industrial hemp products from CSA and DEA regulation. This would allow for the continuation of what have historically been considered legitimate industrial uses of hemp. Products such as paper, rope, and clothing would continue to be legally marketed in the US. Industrial hemp products that could possibly enter the human body or are intended for human consumption would be regulated as controlled substances. These would likely include health and beauty products made from hemp seeds and hemp seed oil.
FORMER KENTUCKY GOVERNOR DELIVERS HEMP TO LAKOTA SIOUX
Earlier this month, the former governor of Kentucky, Louie B. Nunn, delivered a trailer of industrial hemp to South Dakota, where he presented it to a delegation from the Lakota Sioux Nation. The hemp, donated by the Kentucky Hemp Growers Cooperative (KHGC), will replace plants seized by federal authorities in late August from two test plots on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The December 6th delivery took place at Mount Rushmore, with the sculpted images of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, growers of industrial hemp, providing a symbolic backdrop.
KHGC donated 25 bales or raw hemp fiber and 60 bags of hemp that had been processed for horse stall bedding. The hemp was originally imported from Canada, where it is legally grown. The donation will help the Pine Ridge Land Use Project continue building houses in an experimental land development. The hemp fiber will be used both as insulation and (after being mixed with water and lime) to form strong, lightweight building blocks.
In late August, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized over 2,000, 15-foot high industrial hemp plants from the Pine Ridge Reservation. The hemp was planted under the Oglala Sioux Tribal Ordinance 98-27 allowing for the cultivation and harvesting of industrial hemp on tribal lands. The ordinance clarifies industrial hemp to have a level of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), to be less than 1 percent by weight. Though the tribal ordinance should protect the rights of this group to plant and grow industrial hemp in sovereign soils, the DEA and FBI confiscated the tribe's crop.
Earlier this fall, soybean promoters unveiled a home built with soy-based materials at the Farm Science Review, an annual outdoor farm exhibition near London, Ohio.
"The House that Soy Built" was a project of the Ohio Soybean Council and the United Soybean Board. Visitors to the 65-foot by 40-foot structure were able to experience firsthand the multiple uses of soybeans. Finger-jointed lumber, plywood, concrete sealer, plastics and carpet backing, all part of the house, contained soy. The exhibit also showcased soy-based adhesives, coatings and inks, lubricants, and solvents. The aim of demonstration project was to increase consumer awareness and acceptance of soy-based alternatives to petroleum-based products. Over 142,000 people attended the three-day event.
HARVESTING LUBRICANTS FROM VEGETABLE OILS
The use of lubricants spans all facets of industrial and private sectors. Cars, elevators, turf mowers, chainsaws, railroad tracks, center-pivot irrigation systems, bicycles and countless other pieces of equipment depend on lubricants for smooth operation. The US alone consumed 2.7 billion gallons of lubricants in 1997.
Vegetable oil-based lubricants are emerging as a high-performance environmentally friendly alternative to the more commonly purchased petroleum oil lubricants. User choose vegetable oil-based lubricants because they perform as well or better than petroleum oils, are readily biodegradable and low in toxicity, and offer worker safety advantages.
A report recently published by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance provides an overview of the use of vegetable oil-based lubricants in industrial and automotive applications, and identifies companies that sell these products. The report is the third the Carbohydrate Economy's series titled Industrial Products from the Soil. Click here for ordering information.
III. BIOFUELS AND BIOENERGY
CHICAGO BECOMES FIRST CITY TO BAN MTBE
On December 13th, the Chicago City Council unanimously voted to pass an ordinance to ban MTBE. The action makes Chicago the first city in the United States to ban the fuel additive known to pollute water. The ordinance prohibits the "manufacture, blending, delivery, sale, distribution, and use of MTBE," and will become effective at the end of this year.
The Chicago area currently uses ethanol to provide octane and oxygen in gasoline, but concerns were raised that MTBE would move into the area following the toxic fuel additive's ban in other states. Currently eleven states ban the use of MTBE.
Chicago's stand on MTBE will help prevent future MTBE water contamination and ensure a strong market for ethanol. Presently the city's reformulated gasoline market is the largest ethanol market in the US, consuming more than 400 million gallons annually.
COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION BIOENERGY PROGRAM SIGN UP UNDERWAY
Applications for the Commodity Credit Corporation's (CCC) Bioenergy Program will be accepted through December 31, 2000 for Fiscal Year 2001. Under the program, CCC will make up to $150 million in payments to commercial bioenergy (ethanol and biodiesel) producers in the United States that increase their bioenergy production from eligible commodities between December 1, 2000, and September 30, 2001. Payments will be based on bioenergy production increases from eligible commodities compared to the same time period a year earlier.
To be eligible under the program ethanol producers must produce and sell ethanol commercially and have authority from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms to produce ethanol for fuel or sell denatured ethanol rendered unfit for beverage use. All fuel ethanol production is eligible, however, ethanol under 200 proof will be converted to 200 proof gallons before payment calculations are made. Biodiesel producers must produce and sell biodiesel commercially and be registered and in good standing with the Environmental Protection Agency.
Eligible commodities for FY 2001 will be barley, corn, grain sorghum, oats, rice, wheat, soybeans, sunflower seed, canola, crambe, rapeseed, safflower, sesame seed, flaxseed, mustard seed, and cellulosic crops (such as switchgrass and short rotation trees) grown on farms in the United States and its territories for the purpose of and used in producing fuel grade ethanol and or biodiesel.
Any bioenergy producer who expects to have eligible production between December 1, 2000, and September 30, 2001, must enroll in the program during the sign-up period.
Producers wishing to apply to the program should obtain a Bioenergy Program Agreement, Form CCC-850, and instructions for completing it from either the Kansas City Commodity Office, Contract Reconciliation Division, PO Box 419205 STOP 8758, Kansas City, MO 64141-6205, Telephone 816-926-6525; or online at www.fsa.usda.gov/daco/bioenergy/ProgramForms.htm
TOWARD THE FEDERAL BIOMASS INITIATIVE
David Morris, vice president of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, was recently appointed to the Technical Advisory Committee for the Biomass Research and Development Board. The board, part of the federal Biomass Initiative, is responsible for coordinating federal activities for the purpose of promoting the use of biobased industrial products. The committee gathered in Washington, DC for the first meeting last week.
The Biomass Initiative, a result of Executive Order 13134: Developing and Promoting Biobased Products and Bioenergy, is the multi-agency effort to coordinate and accelerate federal biobased products and bioenergy research and development.