Start-up business, eHempHouse, has announced that it has filed two patents relating to their SmartBox, a hemp processing machine that can be used off-grid and will even supply power. eHempHouse plans to give the box away free to farmers in Africa to incentivise as many as possible to grow hemp. Hemp has more impact on removing CO2 than trees or any other crop. The company will then sell the carbon offsetting benefits on the carbon markets to polluting companies. This development comes after the devastating discovery by scientists, earlier this year, that the Amazon rainforest is now emitting more CO2 (carbon) than it absorbs.
eHempHouse is the brainchild of Andy Neal, an engineer based in New York, Steven Putter, an agricultural specialist based in Zambia and Peter Miles, who is CEO and running the business side of things in London. Miles said: “Growing hemp removes 66 tonnes of CO2 per hectare per annum. Yet for too long we’ve ignored hemp’s environmental benefits (and multiple uses) and instead demonised the crop. We’re giving African farmers the means and technology to grow and process the crop in a profitable way.”
The SmartBox is powered by hemp oil and the energy they produce can be used for other power needs. It was criminalised in many parts of the world due to its use as a recreational drug. However, with the Amazon now producing more than a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, overcoming that prejudice and licensing the crop, is essential to avert the climate emergency.