bioSolutions Initiatives
a consulting boutique that aligns financial investments with principles of sustainability, equity, and resilience
The U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity
COMBINING ECONOMIC IMPACT AND PRODUCT PERFORMANCE TO GENERATE INCREASED SUSTAINABILITY IN AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURING
After 80 years of legal prohibition, U.S. industrial hemp is small, nascent, and decades behind that of countries like China, Canada, and France, but it could flourish into a $2.2 billion annual revenue industry by 2030 and create 8,000–10,000 jobs, representing $450–550 million in annual payroll. Industries are rediscovering or, in some cases, pioneering the use of natural fibers for their specific attributes (durability, light weight, resistance, etc.) and because the sustainability imperative appears to no longer be an option. Hemp is one such fiber, the least explored, and probably the one with the strongest potential. But hemp is not only a fiber; it is also a grain with high nutritional properties. An additional blessing of hemp is that it qualifies as a regenerative plant: it is good for soil health and water retention and is one of the highest CO2 sequestering plants we can grow at scale.
Additional impact by 2030 is projected as follows:
- 1,250 farmers growing hemp as a rotation crop, with 10-20% increased yields and incomes on subsequent crops (wheat, corn, cotton, soybeans, barley, etc.)
- 151,000 acres under cultivation - over 8x today’s area - benefiting from the plant’s regenerative attributes
- Over two million tons of CO2 sequestered in the plant; additional carbon will be sequestered in the soil
- 736,000 pounds of glyphosate cut (i.e., 334 metric tons)
- Thousand tons of petroleum-based and harmful materials substituted through industrial hemp in manufactured goods, reducing manufacturing pollution and end of life waste
The U.S. Industrial Hemp Accelerator
