Breakthrough Research released as Gov. Ige signs Hemp Bill into Law

By Rep. Cynthia Thielen (Kailua-Kaneohe Bay)

As Governor Ige signed the Industrial Hemp Bill (SB2659) into law today, researchers at the University of Alberta, Canada, National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) released a startling discovery which indicates that hemp-based electrodes for supercapacitors outperformed standard supercapacitors by nearly 200 percent.

Currently graphene, at $2,000 per gram, is used for making electrodes, the connecting material for batteries. Fibrous hemp waste which has been converted into a graphene-like nanomaterial can be manufactured for less than $500 per ton.

NINT's breakthrough discovery using inexpensive fibrous hemp waste shows that this material has great potential for diverse applications including uninterruptable power sources, energy storage systems and hybrid electric vehicles to name a few, significantly reducing their cost.

Of particular interest for Hawai‘i, researchers are making solar cells out of expensive graphene.  But with carbonized hemp bast fiber nanosheets, the cost of solar cells can be greatly reduced along with the cost for energy storage.

"Hemp truly is a miracle plant," said Rep. Cynthia Thielen, a long-time proponent of this agricultural crop.  With the newly signed hemp law Hawai‘i will be able to tap into this exciting technical field, bringing down the price of energy systems and storage in our islands."

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Video: Bill Signing Ceremony

SB2659: Text, Status

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