What's new
Business Opinion

Hemp Vs Steel – Which Is Actually Stronger?

Written by Joe Powers

Who says hemp is stronger than steel and why?

But of course, Henry Ford has a car made from 100% hemp, right!? And the correct answer is, no. Yes, Mr. Ford built a car and the “plastic body” contained less than 10% hemp cellulose fiber. Thus destroying a long held myth of a car made of 100% hemp. Popular Mechanics 1941, comments on Ford’s hemp car “the plastic is reported to withstand a blow 10 times as great as steel without denting.”

Even though Mr. Ford’s car wasn’t 100% hemp, this doesn’t mean hemp isn’t VERY strong. Our ancestors have been using hemp for thousands of years because of its strength. In recent times, car manufacturer Bruce Dietzen, the President of Renew Sports Cars,  is picking up where Ford left off. His mission is to make a carbon negative car and believes hemp is superior to steel.

Alan Crosky of the School of Material Science and Engineering, in Australia, believes in hemp. He’s quoted in an ABC interview saying, “Hemp fibers have a higher strength to weight ratios than steel and can also be considerably cheaper to manufacture.”

Besides car parts, is hemp able to form into anything else that is WAY stronger than steel?

Science has recently discovered the first two-dimensional object called graphene. It is the lightest, strongest and hardest material. Harder than diamonds and 300 times stronger than steel. It conducts electricity better than copper, is transparent and bendable. Even more recent, David Mitlin’s team has patented a superior form of graphene from hemp.

Is hemp stronger than steel?

According to the above information, the short answer is yes. Henry Ford still could have his dream of, growing cars from the ground, realized. With more car manufacturers using hemp, we very well could see a car made 100% from hemp.

[Image credit: Pixabay]

Have anything to add? Your voice matters! Join the conversation and contribute your insights and ideas below.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About the author

Joe Powers