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You would never think that a single plant could solve most of the world's problems, well it can. Hemp has over 50,000 uses, everything from clothes, medicine, fabrics, fuel and more, hemp is definitely a large threat to a variety of corporations that control energy, health and a number of other industries. Many corporations would see a decline in profit if hemp were to be legalised. One in particular is the automobile industry. The world's most eco-friendly car, the Kestrel, was designed in Canada by Calgary-based Motive Industries Inc. Unlike the United States government, the Canadian government is open to hemp farming and actively supports the hemp industry and its potential benefit for us and our environment. The body of the car is completely impact-resistant and made entirely out of hemp. Now, when we think of cars, we think of gasoline, steel, pollution, etc. Even though we have had some innovative and visually pleasing cars on the road today, it is difficult to ignore the sheer environmental impact that modern cars create. The Kestrel’s hemp composite body shell passed its crash test in excellent form. Unlike steel, the panels bounce back into shape after impact. Hemp also has the same mechanical properties as glass but is even lighter which help to boost fuel efficiency. The Kestrel has a top speed of 90km/h and a range of approximately 160km before needing to be recharged. It’s powered by a motor made by TM4 Electrodynamic Systems, a Quebec based company. The car weighs in at approximately 1,134kg, and has a very affordable price, given the fact that hemp is very easy to grow and requires nothing but the sun. It fits four passengers and the production version of it was supposed to be available this year, but since the unveiling of it a couple of years ago, everything has become quiet.

At a recent classic car show in Japan a tuning company called Tec Art's, not to be confused with the Porsche tuning company Techart as it has that funny Japanese punctuation, had exhibited another one of those classic Japanese cars that have been tweaked by adding current automotive tech. This makes the a 20 or 30 year old classic run reliably on current technology for the ease of its owners. Tec Art's Eco Hatchi-Roku (86) is one of those type of modded cars but it has a twist. This old AE86 is an eco-mentalist's dream of a tree hugging classic car. According to the design brief, the car is supposed to be more fuel efficient the original 4A-G engine and environmentally cleaner too. The engine is still a 4A-G but it now runs an APEX Power FC stand alone programmable ECU. This allows Tech Art to precisely tune the engine's air-fuel ratio. The power steering has been modernized by replacing the hydraulic motor system with an electric motor (see photo above). It uses the original steering rack but it has been modified so that an electric motor assists in the turning. The only drawback to this system is the lack of feel. The benefit is usually a 3% savings in fuel consumption. I'd rather have the hydraulic system thank you. Another upgrade is that a variable intake system is used. The intake manifold has two intake valves that switches between high and low rpm. To increase torque at low rpm the valve closes on one side (for more tumble and swirl) and at higher rpm both valves opens up. The valve control is manual where the driver can use a setting (for torque) for city commuting and the other for fast road driving. Amazingly, this old 86 can make 18km/l. And at highway cruising speeds 19.6km/l was achieved. This means that this old car is as economical or even more economical than a Honda Jazz. A Levin at the very best made 11-12km/l. The best thing was that no power was sacrificed for this figures to be achieved and the Eco-86 made 129.9ps (at the wheel) and 161Nm of torque from the ancient 1.6 4A-G engine. The stock 4A-G made about 125bhp at the flywheel, so it still is a good improvement. Tec Art's intends to get 20km/l by spending more time fine tuning the system. Quite an amazing achievement, modernizing a classic into something quite eco-friendly. Quite, as nothing had been said about having catalytic converters or stuff like that.