Dr. Frank O'Mara:

Exactly. That is a third factor to take into account. If it goes into building material, it is probably going to be there for 20, 30 or maybe 40 years. If it was a wood product being used for construction timber, it would then be counted as being sequestered or locked up for up to 100 years. The same does not happen with hemp or many other such crops, even if they are to be locked up. They are not treated like for like. It is not getting the same advantage when the fibre is used for long-term construction uses like that. In some ways, it is an anomaly but production of the crop is very small so the impact it would have on our national inventory is very small in the short term.