Hemp Market- Projected to Strong Growth by 2024

In this brief interview, Curt Huber, CEO and President of Global Hemp Group dives into the future of Global Hemp Group and sheds light on where it is headed right now in the aspect of industrial hemp. Have a watch as Michael Whitlatch, Creative Director of North Equities, interviews Curt.

0:00-0:18

Introduction/Greetings

0:18-0:30

Michael: Global Hemp Group is involved in hemp cultivation, research, and development. Before we start off, just explain to people what that is. Just like they’ve never watched any videos on the channel. They’ve never been to the website.

0:30-1:29 What Global Hemp Group is All About

Curt: Sure. Well, historically we’ve been a grower of hemp in Oregon for cannabinoid extraction. It was a singular focus that really wasn’t our passion. We’ve always envisioned that the industrial aspect of hemp is by far the largest segment of the market end and where it’s going to go ultimately. And that’s why we’ve expanded our operations and have begun looking at Colorado. (And) We partnered up with a group that we tried to become partners with about 5 years ago and employ exactly that the industrial aspects of hemp and what we call our Hemp Agro-industrial Zone, which is really just a collaboration under one umbrella to produce hemp-based products or use in our various projects or for sale widely across the United States or the world for that matter.

1:29-1:35

Michael: Can we dive into what some of those projects are? Just give some examples that people might go to latch onto?

1:35-2:28 GHG Current Projects Highlighted

Curt: Sure. Well as we recently announced. The Colorado Hemp Agro-Industrial Zone is something that we wanted to do for an extended. Of time. It allows us to enter a market that has had huge pent-up demand, which is the affordable housing in this particular area in Northwest Colorado that will be successful on its own on the real estate site.

But if you add hemp-based building materials into the equation,

it adds a tremendous number of revenue streams
It also gives us an opportunity to increase the real estate assets and the important part is the water infrastructure and the water rights assets and
we can accumulate a large amount of those as part of the project as it develops out.
News Release 2/8/21: GHG Acquires Control Over Strategic Water Infrastructure Asset in Colorado

2:28-2:37

Michael: So we were talking off-camera a little bit you talk about some of the major struggles in the hemp industry where it’s not so much cultivating this issue, but finding an application in a buyer for it. Can you dive into that a little bit?

2:37-4:03 The Struggle Behind Hemp Industry

Curt: Certainly, that’s always where the struggle has been. It’s easy enough to grow the hemp well. It has its challenges in itself, but certainly, you can grow the hemp you can identify the market. But at the end of the day, if you don’t have a buyer for your product, that’s where a lot of the hemp companies have struggled.

The beauty of the Colorado project is that there’s this huge pent-up demand for affordable housing in this area. And so we know that the real estate side of this project will be it will be successful all by itself and it has the opportunity to continue to expand our partner actually built close to a hundred houses in the existing subdivision. (And) we’re planning to expand out from there. This project has a long-term vision. As a matter of fact, the time horizon can be about 25 years in terms of the development of housing in this particular region. And so that’s what’s going to make this project successful. Once you add the hemp building materials and other hemp-based products into the equation that just adds huge multiple revenue streams that will create tremendous shareholder value over time.

4:03-4:07

Michael: Awesome Curt.Thanks for signing some light on the company. Is there anything else you want to mention?

4:07-4:42 GHG Joins the US Hemp Building Association

Curt: Thanks for asking since we last spoke. Actually, we joined the US hemp Building Association that’s going to give us tremendous input in terms of professionals in the hemp building industry throughout the United States that we can consult with. And we’re actually very happy to be a part of helping expand the base of the association to make hemp construction and hempcrete building much more recognized throughout the United States.

News Release 2/12/21: GHG Joins the US Hemp Building Association

4:42-4:49

Michael: Congratulations on that. Thank you.

Thank you for coming on. Thanks, everyone for watching. Don’t be afraid to like, subscribe, join the conversation and leave us some questions. We’ll answer all your questions for you, or I could have a wonderful day.

Curt: Thank you very much.

The scientific consensus around climate change and its prospective irreversible effects have put the need for global environmental sustainability front and center on the world stage. As the search for viable strategies continues, it's up to elected government leaders to implement and incentivize sustainability-oriented regulations in their respective commercial, industrial, and residential sectors.

Let's look at the building industry as an example. Building and construction are responsible for 39% of all carbon emissions in the world, with operational emissions (heating, cooling, lighting etc.) accounting for 28%. The remaining 11% are attributed to embodied carbon emissions in the materials used and the construction process itself.[1] In 2018 commercial and residential structures accounted for approximately consumption 28% energy used in the United States[2]. According to researchers, energy inefficiency in construction sites is a key component in these statistics.

With the emergence of alternative technologies and materials — such as bio-aggregates and electric tractor motors — there's no shortage of new, sustainable approaches to construction.

Carbon Emissions in the World 2018

39% Building and Construction (Operational Emissions 28% and Construction Process/Materials 11%)

[1] World Building Council. (2019) New report: the building and construction sector can reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

[2] US Energy Information Administration. US energy consumption by source ans sector 2018. https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/flow/css_2018_energy.pdf

One particularly notable arrival in this field is a rapidly renewable, incredibly versatile bio-aggregate known as hempcrete.

What is hempcrete, and how can it be used?

As its name suggests, hempcrete is essentially an eco-friendly alternative to concrete, made by combining woody hemp cellulose (known as “hemp hurd") with lime and water.

This wet-mixing process produces a building compound that can be rendered into modular masonry units such as blocks or bricks. It can also be used as loose-fill material or cast into molds, hardening as it dries. Hempcrete can even be used to form walls around wooden structural frames, giving it an impressive range of utility in construction and insulation.

In this post, we explore the advantages of sourcing and using hempcrete, as well as its current drawbacks when compared to conventional building materials.

Hemp Farms, Bio-Sequestration & The Carbon-Negative Advantage

It's worth noting that hemp farms are much more than reliable suppliers of quality biomass for companies producing CBD isolates, wholesale terpenes, or Rick Simpson Oil (RSO). Hemp absorbs more carbon per hectare than any industrially-grown crop due to its rapid growth rate, even outperforming trees grown for the lumber industry.

In essence, hemp farms are the most effective natural carbon sinks on the planet, due to what is known as carbon biosequestration — a function they perform at an estimated rate of 15 metric tons per hectare annually. As of this writing, the production of hempcrete is one of only a few large-scale incentivization for the creation of more hemp farms.

Carbon Biosequestration- How It Works?

Hemp, as with all plants, is carbon negative, as it locks in CO2 during its growth process. It's also rapidly renewable, given its impressive rate of growth with proper crop management. When hemp is mixed with lime to make hempcrete and used in construction, its trapped carbon is rendered into a dormant state for the lifetime of the buildings produced. The hemp-lime mixture continues to sequester carbon throughout its life as the mixture decarbonates over time. These buildings are the longest-running examples of applied carbon sequestration to date.

Practical Benefits of Choosing Hempcrete Over Conventional Building Materials

Hempcrete isn't just ideal for builders looking to achieve a low carbon footprint; there are several practical benefits to using it as well. Let's look at three of the most notable hempcrete advantages over conventional building materials:

● Hempcrete walls provide superior breathability, allowing moisture to be absorbed and released when ambient moisture varies. This is highly desirable from a health point of view. The porous nature of the hempcrete wall ensures low thermal conductivity. The combination with lime makes these walls highly resistant to mold. This means hempcrete walls are incredibly well insulated — facilitating 60-70°F temperatures all year round in many climates, which in turn leads to reduced energy costs and consumption.

● Hempcrete is lightweight and flexible, resilient enough to safely absorb everything from natural temperature-induced expansion or contraction to the volatility of most earthquakes. Because of its low density, hempcrete can withstand vibration and movement without cracking or the need for steel expansion joints, as more brittle building materials like concrete do.

● Hempcrete is also naturally pest and fire-resistant, unlike wood which is particularly susceptible to termite infestations. Testing has shown that hempcrete walls can be subjected to temperatures of 1200°F for up to four hours without catching fire.

Are There Any Downsides to Using Hempcrete?

There are essentially two downsides to Hempcrete construction: the structural weakness of hempcrete and the construction price.

Hempcrete walls do not resist very well to compression and require structural elements to withstand any weight. This is why hempcrete has been used in conjunction with a wood frame around which it is molded. Moreover, a hempcrete wall cannot be poured all in one shot, but in several layers, which must be given time to harden. Such a process is time-consuming, weather dependent, and costly.

Over the past few years, several innovations have solved the structural issues and somewhat closed the gap on prices. Two such innovations are worthy of mention. The first one is the manufacture of blocks that incorporate the structure. Isohemp and JustBioFibre are two prime examples of this type of innovation. The second innovation uses traditional hemp construction with wood frames and shutters but moves the process inside a plant where prefab techniques are used. This removes the weather constraint and allows for economies of scale as workers can work on several units at the same time while drying takes place.

Hempcrete Construction on The Positive Side

While these innovations are very promising in making hempcrete construction more competitive it is worth mentioning, that the competitive process is not really fair. Indeed, hempcrete construction brings along a private good through the lower operations cost of healthy houses, and a public good through a lower carbon footprint. Should traditional construction be brought to bear its share on environmental damage, hempcrete construction would be at a great advantage.

Curt Dives Into the Future of Global Hemp Group and Hemp Industry