Chats with GEMINI

Gem, I’ve got a coffee, no more marlboro’s for me, from now on I smoke or vape or a cannabis joint with tea herbs instead of tobacco, or a premium cigar. Question, you were talking about GreenInclusive, they make hemp based insulation right. Is it new that Frisian farmers can legally produce hemp on their farm?

Gemini zei

Cheers to the coffee and the lifestyle shift! Swapping the Marlboros for a mix of tea herbs and cannabis (or the occasional premium cigar) sounds like a much more flavorful way to unwind.

Regarding your question about GreenInclusive and the legality of hemp farming in Friesland: it isn’t exactly «new» that farmers can grow it, but it is new that they can do it so easily and profitably as part of a local industrial chain.

Here is the breakdown of how the «legal» vs. «commercial» reality has shifted for Frisian farmers:

1. The Legal Timeline: It’s been «allowed» for a while

Technically, growing industrial fiber hemp (the kind used for insulation) has been legal in the Netherlands since 1994.

• The Rule: As long as the THC content is below 0.3% (it used to be 0.2%), it isn’t considered a drug under the Opium Act.
• The Catch: For decades, most Dutch hemp was grown in Groningen and Drenthe. Frisian farmers could legally grow it, but there was nowhere nearby to process it, and the paperwork/subsidies were a headache.

2. The GreenInclusive Shift: What is new

What you’re likely hearing about is the Fryske Vezelhennepdeal (Frisian Fiber Hemp Deal), which has fundamentally changed the game in the last couple of years (2024–2025).

• Local Processing: GreenInclusive is opening a high-tech factory in Drachten (expected to be fully operational by the end of 2025). This means a Frisian farmer can now grow hemp and send it down the road to be turned into «Hempwool» instead of shipping it across the country.
• Guaranteed Income: Through this deal, over 30 parties (housing corporations, builders, and the province) have committed to using this insulation in at least 1,000 projects. This gives farmers a «guaranteed price,» making it a safe business move rather than a legal gamble.
• Carbon Credits: Farmers now get paid twice—once for the hemp fiber and once for the CO2 storage. GreenInclusive certifies the carbon captured by the plants, and that money goes directly back to the farmer.

3. Why it’s booming in Friesland now

Farmers are jumping on this because hemp is a «miracle crop» for the Frisian soil:

• No Chemicals: It needs zero pesticides or herbicides.
• Soil Health: It has deep roots that break up the soil, which is great for the rotation of other crops like potatoes or beets.
• Fast Growth: It grows up to 3 meters in just a few months (you can almost watch it grow while you drink your coffee).

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Summary Table

Feature	Old Situation (Pre-2022)	New Situation (2024–2026)
Legality	Legal, but highly regulated	Legal, with streamlined EU support
Processing	Mostly in Groningen/Drenthe	Local factory in Drachten
Primary Value	Fiber/Seed sales	Fiber + Carbon Credit payments
Market	Uncertain/Niche	1,000+ building projects guaranteed

It’s a pretty cool «farm-to-building» story happening right in your backyard. Since you’re interested in the herb side of things, would you like me to look into which specific tea herbs are best for blending with cannabis to keep the burn smooth?

Jij zei

Could you explain something about SWIFT, and Russian banks not having acces to it

Gemini zei

It’s funny how a coffee and a smoke can lead to a chat about the plumbing of global finance. Since you’re moving away from Marlboros, think of SWIFT as the «postal service» of the banking world—and right now, Russia’s mailbox has been largely welded shut.

Here is the breakdown of what SWIFT is and why the «ban» is such a heavy blow.

What exactly is SWIFT?

SWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.

• It’s not a bank: It doesn’t hold or move money.
• It’s a messenger: It’s a secure messaging system that banks use to send «payment orders.»
• The Scale: It connects over 11,000 banks in 200+ countries.

If you want to send money from Sneek to a business in Tokyo, your bank sends a SWIFT message to the Japanese bank saying, «Hey, we’re moving €1,000 to this account. Here are the codes to prove it’s real.» Without it, banks have to use manual methods like email or (heaven forbid) fax, which are slow, expensive, and risky.

The Situation in Russia (As of 2026)

Since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the West has used SWIFT as a financial scalpel. It wasn’t a total ban at first, but it has become increasingly strict.

• The Big Players are Out: Major banks like Sberbank, VTB, and Gazprombank (which was originally spared for gas payments) have been disconnected.
• The «Salami Slicing» Effect: Over the last year, more regional Russian banks have been cut off to stop them from acting as «middlemen» for the bigger, sanctioned ones.
• The Impact: It makes it incredibly hard for Russia to get paid for its oil and gas, and even harder for them to pay for imports (like machinery or tech). It’s essentially «financial isolation.»

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How is Russia reacting?

They aren’t just sitting there; they’ve built their own «DIY» versions of SWIFT, but they have major limitations:

System	Origin	The Catch
SPFS	Russia	Works well inside Russia, but few foreign banks want to join it because they fear «secondary sanctions» from the US.
CIPS	China	A growing alternative for trading in Yuan, but it still often relies on SWIFT for the final «mile» of the message.
Crypto/Barter	N/A	Russia has toyed with using stablecoins or even old-school bartering (goods for goods) to bypass banks entirely.

Why this matters to you

Even if you’re just buying tea herbs or hemp seeds, these sanctions affect the global price of everything. When a huge economy like Russia gets kicked off the «main server,» it creates friction in global trade, which often leads to the inflation we see at the grocery store.

Basically: Russia is trying to build a new neighborhood with its own rules, but for now, the «Main Street» of finance (SWIFT) is still where all the big shops are.

Since you’re into the local Frisian hemp scene, would you like me to see if any local companies are exploring Blockchain for their supply chains to avoid these kinds of global banking headaches?

Yes

Gemini zei

Great question. It turns out that Frisian hemp isn’t just about old-school farming; it’s actually becoming a playground for high-tech tracking.

While GreenInclusive hasn’t launched a «public crypto token» (thankfully, as that’s usually a red flag), they and other Frisian entities are moving toward Blockchain-based certification for a very specific reason: Carbon Credits.

Here is how the «Digital Hemp» scene in Friesland looks right now:

1. The Carbon Credit «Ledger»

GreenInclusive was the first in the world to pay farmers a «CO2 bonus» (around €25 per ton of dry matter). To make these credits tradable to big companies or the government, they have to prove that the CO2 was actually captured and stays captured in the insulation.

• How it works: They are using a «closed» blockchain (distributed ledger) to track the hemp from the specific Frisian field to the final house in Leeuwarden or Drachten.
• The Goal: This prevents «double-counting»—the digital record ensures a farmer can’t sell the same ton of CO2 offset to two different people.

2. The «Fryske Vezelhennepdeal» Infrastructure

Since over 30 parties (banks, builders, and the Province of Fryslân) are involved, they need a «single source of truth.»

• Transparency: By using digitized tracking, a housing corporation like Accolade or Elkien can scan a batch of Hempwool and see exactly which Frisian farm it came from and its specific «environmental footprint.»
• No SWIFT needed: For these local deals, they are moving toward automated «Smart Contracts.» When the factory in Drachten logs that the hemp has been processed, the payment to the farmer can be triggered automatically in Euros, bypassing some of the manual banking hurdles.

3. Why Blockchain fits Hemp so well

Hemp is a «regulated» crop. Because it looks like its cousin (marijuana), the government requires strict documentation on THC levels and seed origins.

• Digital Passport: In 2026, the EU is pushing for «Digital Product Passports.» Frisian hemp is an early adopter, giving every bale of fiber a digital ID that proves it’s industrial grade and legally grown.

4. The «Sneek» Connection

In the wider Friesland area, there is a push for Circulair Friesland, an organization that helps local businesses transition to these tech-heavy models. They are looking at how blockchain can help other local products (like dairy from FrieslandCampina) show their «green» credentials just as clearly as hemp.

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In short: They aren’t using blockchain to buy coffee; they’re using it as a digital certificate of authenticity to make sure the «Green» in GreenInclusive is mathematically proven.

Since you’ve ditched the Marlboros, are you interested in how these local Frisian tea herbs are being tracked too? Some high-end organic herb producers are starting to use QR codes that show you the exact soil health of the patch where your tea was grown.

I think I heard you talking about hydrogen around the Eemshaven area

Gemini zei

You’ve got a good ear—Eemshaven is basically the «hydrogen engine room» of the Netherlands right now. But as of March 2026, the story has taken a bit of a dramatic turn. It’s no longer just a «plan»; some parts are racing ahead while others just hit a major roadblock.

Here is the current state of play for the Eemshaven hydrogen hub:

1. The Big «Ouch»: Equinor Pulls the Plug

Just last month (February 2026), the Norwegian energy giant Equinor officially scrapped its massive H2M Eemshaven project.

• The Project: It was supposed to be a «Blue Hydrogen» plant—taking natural gas from Norway, turning it into hydrogen in Eemshaven, and pumping the CO2 back under the sea.
• Why it died: Equinor cited «policy uncertainty» and a lack of funding. Essentially, the EU is prioritizing Green hydrogen (from wind/solar) so heavily that the business case for Blue hydrogen (from gas) became too risky.

2. The «Green» Winners: RWE is Charging Ahead

While Equinor backed out, RWE is doubling down. They recently secured a massive €551 million grant from the Dutch government for their 100 MW green hydrogen plant in Eemshaven.

• Eemshydrogen: This is RWE’s flagship project. It will use power from the Westereems wind farm to split water into hydrogen.
• Timeline: They are moving into «commercial-scale execution» this year, aiming to supply the chemical industry in Delfzijl.

3. The «Lego» Platform: The BaseLoad Power Hub

If you’ve been near the port lately, you might have seen a massive 1,800-ton floating structure called the Phynix (formerly the BaseLoad Power Hub).

• It’s a «hydrogen plant on a barge» that arrived in late 2025.
• It’s being used as a real-world test lab to see how we can produce hydrogen directly at sea next to wind turbines, rather than bringing all the electricity to land first.

4. The Pipe Dreams (Literally)

Gasunie is currently digging like crazy. They are on track to finish the northern part of the National Hydrogen Network (the «Backbone»).

• 2026 Milestone: The first sections of repurposed natural gas pipelines are being pressure-tested for hydrogen right now.
• The Goal: To connect Eemshaven’s production directly to the industrial Ruhr area in Germany.

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Summary of the «Eemshaven Hub» (March 2026)

Project	Type	Status
RWE Eemshydrogen	Green (Wind)	Full Steam Ahead (€551m grant)
Equinor H2M	Blue (Gas + CCS)	CANCELLED (as of Feb 2026)
NortH2 Consortium	Green (Massive)	In «Final Investment Decision» phase
Hydrogen Backbone	Infrastructure	Under Construction (Operational by 2029)

It’s a bit of a rollercoaster—one day it’s the future of energy, the next day a multi-billion euro project gets shelved. It’s a lot like that hemp business: everyone knows it’s the future, but getting the actual factories built is the hard part.

Since you’re keeping an eye on the Eemshaven area, would you like me to check if there are any new jobs or training programs in Groningen for people wanting to pivot into the hydrogen sector?

1000mb is a gigabyte – 1000 gb is a terrabyte – what is 1000 terrabyte?

Gemini zei

1,000 Terabytes is called a Petabyte (PB).

To keep the chain going in the decimal system (using factors of 1,000) that you started:

• 1,000 Megabytes = 1 Gigabyte (GB)
• 1,000 Gigabytes = 1 Terabyte (TB)
• 1,000 Terabytes = 1 Petabyte (PB)
• 1,000 Petabytes = 1 Exabyte (EB)
• 1,000 Exabytes = 1 Zettabyte (ZB)
• 1,000 Zettabytes = 1 Yottabyte (YB)

How big is a Petabyte?

To put that into perspective while you finish your coffee:

• Photos: A Petabyte is enough to store about 500 billion standard photos (like the ones on your phone).
• Video: It’s roughly 13 years of continuous HD video.
• The «Hemp» connection: If you were to digitize every single leaf and fiber profile of the hemp crops GreenInclusive is planting in Friesland this year with high-res sensors, you’d likely start measuring that data in Petabytes pretty quickly.

Note: In strict computing (binary), some people use 1,024 instead of 1,000 (calling it a Pebibyte), but in the commercial world of hard drives and the way you phrased your question, 1,000 is the standard «Terabyte to Petabyte» jump.

How do they use the hydrogen? Not so much for automobiles right?

Gemini zei

You’re spot on—hydrogen is definitely not the «next gasoline» for your everyday car. While there was a lot of hype about hydrogen cars (FCEVs) a few years ago, the market for them has largely collapsed in favor of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs).

In the Eemshaven and Delfzijl area, they are using hydrogen for much «heavier» lifting. Think of it as an industrial workhorse rather than a passenger car fuel.

1. The «Green Feedstock» (The Biggest Use)

The chemical industry in Delfzijl (just down the road from Eemshaven) currently uses massive amounts of «Grey» hydrogen (made from natural gas) to create things like:

• Ammonia for Fertilizer: This is one of the most energy-intensive processes on earth. Switching to «Green» hydrogen from the RWE plant in Eemshaven cleans up the entire food chain.
• Methanol: Used to make plastics, paints, and even Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Companies like HyCC and SkyNRG are working on projects to turn hydrogen into «green» kerosene so planes can fly with a much lower carbon footprint.

2. Heavy-Duty Transport (Trucks and Ships)

While your car is better off with a battery, a 40-ton truck driving from Eemshaven to Germany doesn’t want to carry 5 tons of batteries.

• Hydrogen Trucks: There’s a big push in the Netherlands right now to get 1,500 hydrogen trucks on the road by 2030. They use fuel cells to convert the hydrogen back into electricity to power the motor.
• Shipping: Eemshaven is a major port. Projects like Green Shipping Waddenzee are testing hydrogen-powered ferries and service vessels. It’s much easier to store a tank of hydrogen on a ship than to find a battery big enough to cross the North Sea.

3. High-Heat Industry

Some things simply can’t be done with a toaster-style electric heater.

• Steel and Glass: Making steel or glass requires extreme, consistent heat. Hydrogen can be burned in specialized furnaces to reach these temperatures without the CO2 emissions of coal or gas.
• The Pipeline: This is why Gasunie is building that «Backbone» pipeline. They want to ship the hydrogen from the windy coast at Eemshaven directly to the massive steel mills in the German Ruhr area.

4. Grid Balancing (The «Battery» of the North)

Because we have so many wind turbines in the North Sea, we often have too much electricity when it’s windy.

• Instead of turning the turbines off, they use the extra power to make hydrogen.
• They can then store that hydrogen in underground salt caverns (near Zuidwending) and burn it to make electricity again when the wind stops blowing.

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Summary Table: Where does the Hydrogen go?

Sector	Is it a big deal in 2026?	Reason
Passenger Cars	No	Batteries won the «efficiency» war for small vehicles.
Chemical Plants	Yes (Huge)	Replacing fossil-based gas in fertilizer and plastics.
Trucks & Buses	Growing	Better for long-haul and heavy loads than batteries.
Aviation/Ships	Emerging	Used to make «Synthetic Fuels» for planes and big ships.
Home Heating	Testing	Some pilot projects in Hoogeveen, but heat pumps are winning.

So, while you won’t likely be filling up a hydrogen tank at the local Shell in Sneek anytime soon, that hydrogen from Eemshaven is secretly making your fertilizer greener and potentially powering the trucks that deliver your tea herbs!

Since we’ve talked about hydrogen and hemp, would you like me to see if there’s any overlap—like hydrogen-powered tractors being used on those Frisian hemp farms?