AAEA Southeast Region Director Promotes "Chemurgy"

By Sulaiman Mahdi

If we are to seriously address global warming climate change and create green industries with green jobs, Chemurgy, is another great solution to global warming and can create green jobs. Chemurgy is the use of farm plants as feedstock for industrial production and for consumer use. The word "Chemurgy" is derived from the Khemit (Egyptian) word “Keme,” also spelled ‘Chem,” which is the root word of Alchemy and Chemistry. The word Khem in the name Khemit (Egypt) means land or earth or more specifically black land or "Land of Blacks." “Urgy” is a Greek word meaning “work.”

The Chemurgy movement began around the 1920’s, and lasted until around 1977 with the Chemurgy Farm Council. Two of the famous supporters of this movement were George Washington Carver and Henry Ford. Carver has been called the “First and Greatest Chemurgist,” his chemurgical work with the peanut, sweet potatoes, cowpeas, pecans and other farm products is a testimony to his greatness. Henry Ford was a friend of Carver and a comrade in the Chemurgy movement. Both men believed in the idea of moving away from petrochemicals to biochemicals, especially for use as alternative fuel for cars and other vehicles. Ford even produced a vegetable car made from straw, flax, cotton linters, ramie, slash pine, soy meal and liquid bioresin into a vegetable plastic. The car was 2000 pounds compared with a 3,000 pound steel car. The car was not only made from plants, but also ran on fuel made from plants.

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Sulaiman Mahdi

AAEA Southeast Office