Ed Lehrburger is a hemp pioneer with decades of experience; the innovations his company, Pure Vision Technology have developed have expanded the hemp industry. Ed speaks to Joy Beckerman about continuous countercurrent reactor (CCR), their patented technology that breaks down plants into three fractions. The three fractions are necessary for every imaginable hemp product including fuel. Ed shares his plans to create hemp refineries. Produced by PodCONX https://podconx.com/guests/ed-lehrburger
Ed Lehrburger is a hemp pioneer with decades of experience; the innovations his company, Pure Vision Technology have developed have expanded the hemp industry. Ed speaks to Joy Beckerman about continuous countercurrent reactor (CCR), their patented technology that breaks down plants into three fractions. The three fractions are necessary for every imaginable hemp product including fuel. Ed shares his plans to create hemp refineries.
https://podconx.com/guests/ed-lehrburger
Dan Humiston: [00:00:08] Welcome to another episode of Hemp Barons. I'm Dan Humiston. And on today's show, we have a renewable economy pioneer using patented technology. This Hemp company is converting non-food biomass into three value added products. This exciting breakthrough technology is making bio refinery more economical, faster and more environmentally friendly. Let's join Joy's conversation with Ed Learned Burger from pure vision technology.
Joy Beckerman: [00:00:48] Well, hello and thank you so much for being with us today on Hemp Barons.
Ed Lehrburger: [00:00:54] Well, it's a pleasure.
Joy Beckerman: [00:00:56] I have been just an admirer of yours for years now. What? Hemp technology is doing for the advancement of the valuable versatile Hemp crop and plant and all that it can do is really unmatched in so many ways around the globe. Can you tell us a little bit? And then I'm excited to get into the history of it. Tell us a little bit about what the bio refining fractional innovation technology is, what pure Hemp technology does.
Ed Lehrburger: [00:01:29] Okay. Well, we call it or continuous counter current reactor technology. And what this technology results in is starting with, for instance, Hemp stocks infraction eating the primary components of the fish stocks in the three fractions, the first fractions being pulp or the cellulose portion, the second fraction being the and I N fraction in the third fraction being the Hemp cellulose or we further break it down into silos. So in a very short amount of time, we feed Hemp stocks in and we end up with three fractions of coke. Lignin and Hemp save us or silos.
Joy Beckerman: [00:02:29] And some those from those three fractions. Thousands and thousands of products can be made correct.
Ed Lehrburger: [00:02:39] The pope, which I'm very proud to say, we just finished our first paper run a domestic paper mill. So we fed Hemp stocks through the reactor. About 50 percent of the dry weight of the product coming out is his folks sorry. Is Cope.
Ed Lehrburger: [00:03:05] And we sent about 500 pounds of pulp to a paper mill in Michigan and they ran it and made we made about two miles of Hemp paper. And this was a huge milestone not only for us but really for the United States, where we're now making hemp paper at a paper mill and soon to be paper mills, which is a big deal. And we're now working with other companies to find homes for this amazing hemp paper that we made in our target was to make a thick paper stock for board cards and packaging. So we're. As of today, open for business to help move our two miles of paper so we can do our next run, which we plan to have about 10 miles of Hemp paper.
Joy Beckerman: [00:04:09] So that is Paulo exciting.
Ed Lehrburger: [00:04:13] So that's on the plus side. We can also further refine the pope into glucose, so we have methods and we've done this a number of times where we end emphatically hide, realize the Pope into glucose. And once you have the glucose, which is a six carbon sugar, we're able to ferment that into many different products. And this is the beginning of the refinery where you start with four mineral sugars. And from the commendable sugars, you can go into many different directions as far as consumer products and industrial products. So that's on the pope's side, the lignin side.
Joy Beckerman: [00:05:01] And can we just. And can I just. Let me just get in there for a second. So for any pulp and paper and paper and packaging in card is so important. But I also know that you folks are looking in to and see the full potential here. And they've even created some tissue paper and are looking for pulp for and looking to even personal hygiene products and of course, building products on the pulp side as well.
Ed Lehrburger: [00:05:29] 100 percent accurate. We have made pulp from wheat straw that went into make making gorgeous toilet paper and paper towels. Now, that was a 14 month concentrated program that we did with the third party that, you know, it cost about two million dollars for us to develop that data. We have yet to do that with Hemp in all the work that we're doing now is self-funded. So we're definitely looking for collaborators to assist us in in funding the research and development to take Hemp and go into different directions, like toilet paper, like hygiene products. And we've got some preliminary data on all of these.
Ed Lehrburger: [00:06:23] And, you know, we're we're just trying to stay focused on one thing at a time. And our one thing was making pulp to make paper. And so now we're kind of in that groove. We're also exploring the the very unique properties of Hemp LICHTMAN And we're doing amazing research and development. And we've got collaborations with different universities and we're sending them our Hemp. LICHTMAN And we're perhaps one of the only companies in the world making Hemp. LICHTMAN And the data that we're generating with our collaborators is phenomenal. And it's in its big data that no one's ever seen before relating to the the high reactivity of the Hemp. LICHTMAN And how it can be a direct replacement for petroleum feedstocks.
Joy Beckerman: [00:07:27] So exciting. And then there's
Ed Lehrburger: [00:07:32] The third fraction is the the Hemp cellulose, which is a much thinner fiber than the thick cellulose fiber. And in our continuous kind of reactor technology, we're able to convert that long fiber.
Ed Lehrburger: [00:07:54] Long, thin fiber into a liquid inside the reactor, so it enters as a Hemp stock where 20 percent is the Hemp cellulose and it exits as a liquid and the liquid is now considered to be a long chain or a luger MERRICK silos and silos as a five carbon sugar. And this, like the lignin in like the cellulose, is a raw material that can be made into many industrial and consumer products. So these three fractions result in providing raw materials to make, you know, a myriad of products for all of us, including plastic sweeteners, composites, chemicals.
Joy Beckerman: [00:08:47] oils. Resins, sealers.
Joy Beckerman: [00:08:51] Along those lines, am I correct? Yes. Yes. It's just incredible. And. And you folks didn't come to this lightly.
Joy Beckerman: [00:09:00] This is technology that the pure vision team has, that you and your brother Karl and I know your your colleague, who I believe is now retired Dr. Duke wingers then have developed and patented this technology in the 90s, am I correct? And then pure vision then licenses this patented bio refining for actualization technology to cure Hemp technology, which, of course, all owned by you guys. Is that correct?
Ed Lehrburger: [00:09:31] Yeah. The the CCR technology was developed by Dr. Wingers and in 1999. And so we've been advancing it and then scaling it up. For these years and now it's pretty much ready to be scaled up to a small industrial scale and our current scale is a half ton per day continuous pilot plant. And we definitely have enough data to advance in our next scale is planned to be a four ton per day, which is a very conservative scale up from the four tonne. We plan to go to a full commercial scale of 50 tons per day, which in the scheme of industrial scale is still relatively small. So we've got our work cut out for us for the next five years. And as I'm on this interview, just let your listeners know that we're very active in the R and D and the scale up. All this takes investment funds. So we're seeking investment collaborators to help us build more and more Hemp refineries to replace oil refineries as soon as possible.
Joy Beckerman: [00:10:59] And it's pure Hemp tech dot com, by the way. Pure Hemp T E C H dot com where we can learn about all of those all of those opportunities.
Joy Beckerman: [00:11:10] And in fact, it's your extensive experience in biomass for all of those years that inspired the state of Colorado when it began to explore the reintroduction and the re-emergence of, again, this versatile, valuable crop in Colorado, where you were appointed originally to serve on the Colorado Hemp Advisory Board is formed in 2013. And you now serve as the chairman of the board of directors of the Colorado Hemp Advisory Board. Am I correct?
Ed Lehrburger: [00:11:43] That is correct. Wow. Quite honored to have you two to serve as the chairman of this group. That yeah, when we started meeting in 2013, Hemp was illegal everywhere in the United States. Colorado was the only state that legalized Hemp, but it was still illegal because we didn't have rules and regs to follow to grow him. So 2014 was the first legal so in the first legal harvest. And so we were in processing Hemp from day one. And so and like you say, I'm still on the committee and now been invited to be the chairman. And it's quite an honor and we're still kicking.
Joy Beckerman: [00:12:35] We are so grateful for you are the busiest man in Hemp, and we are still grateful for all of the time that you put in to advance the crop, to educate everybody, to create policies and inspire infrastructure here, to deliver on the promise of this incredible plant. And now you're also the board of directors of Champ, which is the Colorado Hemp Advancement and Management Plan, a new a new sort of offshoot of the OR within the Colorado Department of Agriculture. Again, to continue to make sensible and manageable plans for all of the many aspects of of this plant, everything from banking and finance, processing, manufacturing, marketing. As you know, the champ subcommittees span all of the areas that affect the huge Hemp industries, as it were. And let's talk about the history, a little bit of the very plants that we're talking about now. Pure Hemp is located based in Fort Lupton. And I know I think it was in 1993. You've made a little bit of money in real estate and finance and you're quite a musician as well. So but new your vision and intellectual that you are a planetary healer, that you are invested in a piece of real estate, a group of eight cannery operation buildings that functioned as the Fort Lupton Canning CO from 1898 to 1979. Is that is that true? It was the operation was the canning company for nearly 100 years.
Ed Lehrburger: [00:14:14] That is all very accurate. It started in 1898 and they shut the doors in 1979 and the Fort Lupton Canning Company took local produce from farmers canned produce and provided canned goods, vegetables to about a four state region. And with the advancement of mass production, these mom and pop canneries around the country within about four years all went down. And so in 1993, purchased this industrial property, which has, like you say, about eight buildings. One hundred and ten thousand square feet of buildings on eight and a half acres. And we're slowly converting the entire property into a Hemp refinery. So one building had an.
Joy Beckerman: [00:15:11] And what became sort of the financial backbone of your vision, which is which is obviously we we referred to as pure Hemp is you. My understanding is that you then converted sort of one building at a time into storage, a disease sort of course. Now it's being and has been long since being converted into into the Hemp processing and for the bio refinery technology, factionalized ancient technology storage unit. Is that what they had provided the originally the financial backbone for pure vision and pure Hemp?
Ed Lehrburger: [00:15:44] You're getting into the rich history here, Joy, and I guess I'm quite proud to share the same story that when I bought the property in 1973, the first thing I did was build mini storage units and the next year I had to build more cars. They got rented out. In the third year I built more. So these two hundred mini storage units and four other outbuildings that I've rented have been the financial backbone to keep pure Hemp and pure vision going for the last 20 years. So. It's part of the rich history. And now we're converting the the storage buildings back into processing biomass like they were originally designed to do in the 1940s when most of the buildings were built. So it's quite a crazy change of events that's taking place there now. It's a matter of fact, one of the buildings that were totally remodeling right now was an old warehouse. And we're turning it into our second clean room.
Ed Lehrburger: [00:17:04] That's you know, by the time it's done, it's going to be a very sophisticated ISO seven rate, a clean room. So, yeah, we're we're making it better than it was.
Dan Humiston: [00:17:18] I want to take a minute to thank all of our Hemp Barons listeners and to let you know that you can support the show by subscribing to MJ Bowles premium. It's only four dollars and ninety nine cents a month and you gain access to all previous episodes of Hemp Barons as well as all MJ bills, other podcasts and exclusive content. Go to MJBulls.com and enter promo code Barron's to get your first month free.
Joy Beckerman: [00:17:44] I know that also you folks have processing certain materials that are available for sale now. Could you tell us a little bit about the various herbs that you're processing and other other ingredient suppliers, so to speak, or materials that are available right now for four manufacturers to purchase?
Ed Lehrburger: [00:18:08] Yeah, let me just first say this, that what is paying for our research and development and advancement of our Hemp refining program is our spinoff company and our brand pure botanicals. So most of the products that we're selling are what most people in our industry are used to, which is cannabinoid infused products.
Ed Lehrburger: [00:18:38] So we have tinctures and topically and so forth. So those are something that we sell every day. We also are selling small quantities of lignin and a pulp and now we're selling large quantities of paper and we're also selling small quantities of silos and we're targeting companies and universities to take these unique 100 percent Hemp based raw materials to start doing research and development to find homes for these unique starting materials. So by all means, your audience, if you're interested in working with us in getting small samples of these starting materials, let us know. And the goal will be to work toward buying railcar quantities of these same raw materials to make products on the industrial scale.
Joy Beckerman: [00:19:47] And your Web site has since created the technology tab. I just think it's so useful. It really. You do a wonderful job of taking some very complicated science and explaining it in layman's terms so folks can and can understand it. So again, we're talking about a plant that meets all of the needs of humanity. So human and animal nutrition need to student goals and body care, pharmaceuticals, paper, textiles, building materials, bio composites, nanotechnology, industrial ceilings and coatings. I mean, somebody stop me and you folks. Ed Marburger at Pure Hemp Technology have the have the science to really maximize all of these all of these aspects of this plant, as you say, be the cellulose, the Hemp cellulose and the lending. And for our listeners, Lindzen is the property in plants simplistically that sort of gives them their rigidity and certain protection. So when you punch a tree, you hurt your hand. There's still much living in that tree. There is about 20 percent linden in my right at 20 percent in the Hemp plant.
Ed Lehrburger: [00:21:02] Yes. So, yeah. So.is one of the most prominent polymers, natural polymers on the planet. So trees typically have 25 percent lignin and in most other plants have closer to 20 percent. But it's it's evolved to be a very important polymer. Everywhere in nature. And so when we lettuce or broccoli or other biomass, we're actually eating some. LICHTMAN So it's part of all forms of nature and we couldn't live without. LICHTMAN And on a molecular level, it is a very complex molecule and it's a fascinating molecule. And the most prominent source of LICHTMAN on the planet is from. It comes out of the pulp and paper industry. And when you have very large pulp producers, how to make paper is to remove the LICHTMAN from the woodchips. So popping all over the planet is all about removing lignin because. LICHTMAN has qualities that doesn't make for good paper. So they remove the LICHTMAN in the state of the art for the industry is to condense this and dry this. LICHTMAN And use it as boiler fuel to help fuel the pulp and paper making operations. And this is a great use for LICHTMAN. But in our world, lignin is much more valuable than using it for boiler fuel when we can use it as the raw material, the primary raw material to make plastics and other high value added products.
Joy Beckerman: [00:23:12] Now, that's what we want to be maximizing this, as you say, fascinating and complex molecule for all that it is worth. It's kind of like when folks say, hey, we can make biodiesel fuel out of his seed oil. And yes, we can, but it is such a valuable complex. Oil, oil press from the Hemp seed that we would not want to use it just to be burned as a fuel. There are so many incredible things that that we can do with it. And and I think also it's important for us to bring home the fact that so there's 25 percent linen in trees and we don't want to cut trees down. We need trees for oxygen and for the biosphere. And also, it takes an incredible amount of chemicals to break down the lemon that's in trees versus breaking down the linen that's in Hemp. Is that correct as well? Yeah.
Ed Lehrburger: [00:24:06] And Joy, you're you're spot on. We don't need to cut down trees to make paper and drink products. And, you know, the trees that we do cut down on this planet that are anywhere from seven to 35 years old to grow a good tree for pulp and we grow Hemp and what, 90 to 120 days. And so let's save those trees to absorb and suck up the carbon and let's use ag residues and Hemp stocks to make our tool for paper towels and paper and packaging.
Joy Beckerman: [00:24:52] And so, yeah, that's what we energize them and re energize the farming industry and employ regenerative agricultural practices that will seal the soil and rebuild the soil and really heal this planet up. And I think also important for the listeners to know that, you know, we have to use a lot of bleach to make tree paper, all of the dioxins that that adds into the water table, not necessary for the production of Hemp paper. Basically, if we can all get used to the beautiful creamy color instead of this addiction to bleached white, which is unnecessary.
Ed Lehrburger: [00:25:29] What do you say about that ad spot on again? We as a society must move away from the from the bleach white look and embrace the natural colors of the product that we're making. So the Hemp paper that we just made is not bleached white. We did mix it with bleach pulp. So it's kind of an off white. But the more percentage Hemp that goes into our paper and our products, we don't want to add any bleach. And so we'll have kind of a natural tarnish color looking product. And so we as an industry really want to embrace this. And if you want to have a white look, well, you can have your white bio based ink or your colorful inks that you can apply to the Hemp paper and you can have it any color you want. But yeah, as a society, we must move away from the thought that everything has to be bleached with chemicals in and start gravitating towards the natural look and feel of the plant.
Joy Beckerman: [00:26:49] It's beautiful. It's healthy. Let's do it. And I wrote I know an article about you and your vision for Marijuana Venture magazine way back in 2015. And there's a quote here that I have. You said Everything you can do with oil, you can do with biomass and seed stock, and that the focus of this company is to get away from trees and to be tree free. Feeling that way today at.
Ed Lehrburger: [00:27:16] Yes, but moreover, you know, trees are incredible plants and we love to see them and have them in our environment. We do not love to see oil refineries in our environment. So what we're all about is promoting Hemp and biomass refineries to replace oil refineries. And yes, we can take the sugars and the lignin that are a prominent part of all plants that grow and use these stocks and stems and biomass is the raw material to make just about anything that comes out of an oil refinery. And we don't need to go to war. We don't need to spend billions protecting the Middle East transportation routes. And we don't need to invest in these crazy things that our country has historically invested in to support an oil economy. And like you said, let's embrace the farming community.
Ed Lehrburger: [00:28:29] Let's have all of this happened domestically. And we don't need government subsidies. And let's stop all this craziness and let's get back to the roots.
Joy Beckerman: [00:28:45] Love it. Ed, thank you for everything that you and your brother and that the pure vision, pure Hemp and pure kind team do for the planet. And again, the civically too advanced the crop, you really carrying the water and chopping the wood for the re-emergence of this crop. On so many levels. So not only are you leading the most promising, you know, technology that we have here to maximize and deliver on the promise of this plant, but your the nonprofit physicians that you hold in the state of Colorado, which in so many ways leads the nation in North America and the Globe. Thank you for all that you do for this plant and for and for the planet and for us. And thank you so much for being with us today.
Ed Lehrburger: [00:29:32] Well, thank you, Joy. Those are quite nice accolades and it's my pleasure.
Joy Beckerman: [00:29:38] Can't wait till our next encounter. Brother, you keep going.
Ed Lehrburger: [00:29:42] All right, sister. Goodbye, big. Bye.
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