Team: 43
School: Taos High
Area of Science: Computer Science/Biology
Interim: Interim Report
Problem:
A study done by 8 billion trees shows that over 15 billion Trees are deforested per year ( Forestry, Trees and Tree Planting | January 6, 2023). With the number of trees getting cut down per year we must start looking at alternatives to see if there is a better source of products from Hemp than Trees. The problem with using Trees is that they could take 40 to 50 years to grow into a full adult, meaning production of many things would come to a halt. With most of the trees gone the amount of Carbon dioxide would scatter into the environment and would start to pollute many things. This problem will have to be solved first with different substitutes that are able to create the same thing as Trees while not being as important to them.
Problem Solution:
With a major amount of deforestation happening around the world we must be prepared in case that Trees are no longer able to produce materials like Rope, Cloth, and other essentials. There are not many alternatives that are able to produce the same thing as Wood, Except for Hemp. By replacing Trees with Hemp we would be able to mass produce Hemp at a constant rate helping us make more Cloth, Food, and Medicine while also not needing to wait 40-60 years for a Tree to fully grow meanwhile it only takes 4 months for Hemp to reach its full maturity and be ready for harvesting. According to a study done by (WoodlandPaper) Hemp products are as great or even better than most Wood products. If we start using Hemp we could create products that are able to compete with Modern products while also making them stronger then they’ve ever been.
Progress to date:
At this point in the Year we have developed programs that show the difference between the amount of water needed for Hemp to grow to that compared to a Tree, these programs will be refined at a later date. We have also started conducting more programs to see if we can determine the efficiency of using Hemp as a substitute for a variety of different things including Medicine, Rope, food, and Cloth. We are currently researching how the soil that Hemp is planted on gets affected after many cycles. This will show us if it will be able to be mass produced without having to do anything to the soil beforehand.
Expected Results:
We hope our results will be efficient enough to convince many others why Hemp would be a viable substitute. In order to accomplish this we will have to conduct more research and make more programs to completely figure out the pros of farming Hemp and the cons of farming hemp. We hope that our information will be useful in the future to produce a good effect on the environment.
Sources
Hemp Basics (2023/Na):https://www.hempbasics.com/shop/general-hemp-information
Woodland Paper (2019,March 22):https://www.woodlandpaper.com/2019/03/paper-vs-hemp/#:~:text=Hemp%20has%20a%20much%20faster,between%2020%20to%2080%20years.
Way of leaf (2020, June 18): https://wayofleaf.com/hemp/hemp-vs-trees-why-we-should-switch-to-hemp
Jefferson.edu (Na):https://www.jefferson.edu/academics/colleges-schools-institutes/health-professions/emerging-health-professions/centers/lambert-center/research/hemp-research.html
netfirmusa.com (Na/Na)
https://www.netafimusa.com/agriculture/solutions-for-your-crop/hemp/
Team Members:
Jaden Alford
Juan Romo
Pedro Escobar
Orlando Cruz
Christopher Muniz
Sponsoring Teacher: Tracy Galligan