Ford to Create Cars from Cannabis

Posted by Sandra Williams Sep 16, 2007

Hemp based products will be replacing some glass, plastic and steel parts in cars according to an article on Times Online by Jonathon Leake. Hemp fibres have been used for a long time in clothing, plastic, paper and ropes.

Hemcore is the largest grower and processor for hemp in the UK and has permission to produce 3,000 hectares of cannabis, which is strictly controlled for obvious reasons. Defra (Department for Environment) is helping to fund the recyclable car.

It's not the type of hemp anyone is going to get high off since what they're growing is industrial hemp. Ford was experimenting with hemp back in the thirties as you can witness on this YouTube video of Ford's plastic car from 1941.

It's a start by creating a few sustainable parts and perhaps it will catch on. Although hemp may make some biodegradable parts it won't stop the engine exhaust system from smoking away. A cannabis car sounds sort of cool and I think it's great they're creating something sustainable anyway.