Fuel Crisis? What Fuel Crisis? Part 2

What happens when a farmer becomes a fuel producer, and the raw material of industry no longer comes from beneath the ground, but from the field outside?

The story doesn’t begin with prohibition or policy. It begins with a system that promised independence from soil and season, then quietly redirected that independence elsewhere.

This is the second part of a three-part investigation. It continues the thread from Part 1, following the historical, industrial, and political forces that shaped what was removed, what replaced it, and what remained hidden in plain sight.

By the 1930s, Henry Ford was actively promoting this direction in Dearborn, Michigan, hosting gatherings around a concept known as Farm Chemurgy. The term was introduced by Dr. William J. Hale, combining the language of chemistry with the idea of practical work. Chemurgy is a 1930s compound word, combining “chemo-” (from Greek chemeia, “chemistry”) and “-urgy” (from Greek ergon, “work”) to represent the industrial, non-food use of organic, agricultural raw materials. The term emphasises utilising science for industrial production, often termed “chemicalising the farm”.

The premise was straightforward. Farmers could supply the raw inputs for industry rather than relying on petroleum-based imports. Ford decided at the time that this was so revolutionary that he invested in that idea with his own money. At his Iron Mountain site in Michigan, he ran a facility that converted biomass, including hemp, into industrial outputs. The process yielded methanol, charcoal-based fuel, tar, pitch, and ethyl acetate. All produced from crops grown within a single season. In August 1941, he presented a prototype vehicle constructed with body panels made from hemp, soy, wheat, straw, and flax, bonded together using resin.

In August 1941, Henry Ford (right) and Robert A. Boyer (left) - a chemist who led the development of the Soybean Car at Henry Ford’s Greenfield Village laboratory - unveiled a prototype car with body panels made from hemp, soy, wheat, straw, and flax bound together with resin.

The project received national attention. Popular Mechanics covered it, and The New York Times reported on its development. In recent reports, the body panels at the time were described as lighter than fibreglass. In a filmed demonstration, Henry Ford struck the trunk with an axe. You can witness the blade rebounding, leaving the surface intact. The vehicle itself was designed to operate on ethanol derived entirely from hemp.

An excerpt from the February 1938 edition of Popular Mechanics Magazine.

The New York Times August 14, 1941, page 19, reported that Henry Ford unveiled an experimental “soybean car” with a plastic body designed to be significantly lighter and more durable than traditional steel vehicles.

Henry Ford eventually brought in George Washington Carver to contribute to the work. Carver had long advocated for crop diversification and soil restoration, and his involvement aligned with Ford’s broader aim. The vision extended beyond fuel. Ford was working toward a vehicle derived almost entirely from agricultural materials, with hemp at the centre of that effort.

At that stage, Ford was 77 years old, publicly demonstrating a product he believed had long-term significance. And with an axe, mind you. Yet by 1941, the direction had already shifted. It was too late. Something took place four years earlier that would bury this knowledge for next 80 years.