Good post. I've seen that article before but many people haven't. They think that a car made out of hemp is a ridiculous fantasy, but it's already been done. There are many uses for hemp fiber including construction. The potential is huge and so far very few companies have tried to tap into it. I think ALYI's strategy is sound. Once we get some solid proof that this company is really making progress on its plans, this could take off past $.09/share. However, there's still reason to be cautious and skeptical. I wouldn't bet the farm just yet but I'm putting my spare change here.
Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a strain of the Cannabis sativa plant species that is grown specifically for the industrial uses of its derived products.[1] It is one of the fastest growing plants[2] and was one of the first plants to be spun into usable fiber 10,000 years ago.[3] It can be refined into a variety of commercial items, including paper, textiles, clothing, biodegradable plastics, paint, insulation, biofuel, food, and animal feed...
...Plastic and composite materials
A mixture of fiberglass, hemp fiber, kenaf, and flax has been used since 2002 to make composite panels for automobiles.[37] The choice of which bast fiber to use is primarily based on cost and availability. Various car makers are beginning to use hemp in their cars, including Audi, BMW, Ford, GM, Chrysler, Honda, Iveco, Lotus, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Saturn, Volkswagen[38] and Volvo. For example, the Lotus Eco Elise[39] and the Mercedes C-Class both contain hemp (up to 20 kg in each car in the case of the latter).[40]...
...Energy Storage
There has been some studies and experiments with promising results in which waste fiber from industrial hemp was used as a component in supercapacitors for energy storage. Dr. David Mitlin, from Clarkson University was hired by Alternet Systems to create a cheaper version, made of hemp, for graphene. The hemp supercapacitors created by Mitlin have been able to store 12 watt-hours of energy per Kg. This is over 2x as high as regular graphene supercapacitors, and cheaper to build. This new tech is promising and with high chances it can change the way we store energy nowadays.
Note that Wikipedia quotes Dr. David Mitlin as having been hired/contracted by ALYI.
