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In the article World’s First Hemp Plane Will Be Stronger Than Steel And Run On Hemp Biofuel which was published on Truth theory, they claim there is a plane being built out of hemp, it will be fueled by hemp and it will be 10 times stronger than steel. Does any of this check out

Claim about the strength of hemp

Why Hemp? First of all, hemp is one of the healthiest and most versatile plants on the planet. Not only is it, pound for pound, 10 times stronger than steel but it can also bend much farther than metal. As a result, hemp is ideal for aviation technology.

In terms of notability it gets shared around Facebook and people seem to believe it.

user1605665
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    Being "pound for pound" stronger doesn't really mean much. Sure, 5 pounds of hemp might be "stronger" than 5 pounds of steel, but it's also way less dense, so it's going to take up a lot more space. – TheWanderer Aug 03 '19 at 00:59
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    @TheWanderer Details like that is the reason and explainer on skeptitcs is needed – user1605665 Aug 03 '19 at 01:08
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    I don't understand why this question was downvoted. The claim seems _silly_, obviously, but Truth Theory seems large enough to warrant a debunking. – T. Sar Aug 03 '19 at 03:33
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    I wonder why they would compare hemp's strength per weight to that of *steel*, since as far as I know, steel is not used in aircraft manufacturing precisely because its strength per weight is too low (i.e. a sufficiently strong steel aircraft would be too heavy). It would make more sense if they compared it to, say, aluminum, or some other material that actually is used to make aircraft. – Nate Eldredge Aug 03 '19 at 05:20
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    Also, strength-per-weight is only *one* of the factors you look at for airplane hull material. Another important one is *rigidity and elasticity* -- the ability to keep its shape when subject to external stress, and to return to it when deformed. – Shadur Aug 03 '19 at 07:47
  • Presumably this is really hemp fiber used to reinforce a plastic or resin, similar to how fiberglass or carbon fiber are already used. So the comparison of properties should not be with a metal alternative but with these existing similar products. – Henry Aug 04 '19 at 01:41
  • I think you have at least 2 questions here. 1) "Is hemp stronger than steel?" This is vague, as I will get to in another comment. 2) "Could, in theory, some hemp-based product be used for aviation technology?" There is a third: 3) Is HempEarth building an airplane out of hemp? – Oddthinking Aug 04 '19 at 07:53
  • The first question is too vague - BUT they provide a reference for the claim, so if that is your question, please follow the reference and apply your questions to that. – Oddthinking Aug 04 '19 at 07:54
  • The second question seems to be both vague (after all, they provide a link to a prefabrivated house being "built from hemp" that turns out to be being built from concrete with hemp in it), speculative and opinion-based. – Oddthinking Aug 04 '19 at 07:56
  • As for the implied third question: Apparently *parts* of the aircraft are infused with hemp - is that a yes or a no? [[Ref](https://matadornetwork.com/read/eco-friendly-plane-made-powered-cannabis/)] – Oddthinking Aug 04 '19 at 07:58

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