THE MARDIGRASS INDUSTRIAL HEMP FORUM
DAILY 11 – 12AM
HEMP EXPO TENT, PEACE PARK
Dr Keith Bolton Ecotechnology Australia INDUSTRIAL HEMP
FARMING
Keith Bolton’s involvement in the hemp industry began
in the mid nineties when he started a hemp importing business
which sold all sorts of hemp products such as hemp fabric, rope,
paper, hemp seed oil and hemp accessories. He is passionate
about industrial hemp and re-establishing it as one of the most
useful plants known to man, especially with the ever-increasing
threat of global warming and the large-scale clearing of land
and forests around the world contributing to it.
Keith is an environmental engineer and his company Ecotechnology
Australia designs and constructs on-site sewage treatment systems
using wetland technology. In 2004 with the support of Southern
Cross University he established the successful ‘mop-crop’
technology (irrigating crops with effluent using hemp), at the
Bangalow Sewage Treatment Plant.
Keith has run workshops in the Northern Rivers region for the
past few years to share his knowledge about growing industrial
hemp with interested farmers. Several of these farmers will
now be putting that knowledge to good use as they come online
as NSW’s first hemp farmers in the newly commercialising
hemp industry.
Kim Hough Hemp Resources WA HEMP SEED, TEXTILES AND
PAPER
More than 90% of all papermaking world-wide uses wood. Pulp
wood accounts for around 15% of all timber felling world wide
and forests simply cannot meet the demand of the paper industry.
Hemp Resources is an ecologically and environmentally focussed
company committed to developing a sustainable, global business
with a truly “green” emphasis. Through an exclusive
world wide licence Agreement, the company has secured the intellectual
property rights to a patented hemp paper manufacturing technology
and paper mill design. This technology is capable of producing
a wide range of paper including an economical office copy/printer
paper. This unique and innovative Chinese technology is able
to produce environmentally friendly (chlorine free bleaching
process) whole stem hemp paper.
Hemp Resources is already in discussions with local and state
government officials investigating the feasibility of support
in constructing hemp paper mills and processing plants, based
on this innovative process, in Western Australia. The Company
intends to produce 100% hemp paper and hemp blend paper in Western
Australia as soon as commercial growing areas are realised and
the company’s paper mills constructed.
In March 2008, Hemp Resources secured a contract to supply Australian
grown hemp to Hong Kong after successful trial plantings in
the great southern. The company plans to significantly increase
plantings this year to take advantage of huge demand in Asia.
As well as developing and operating its own hemp paper mills,
the Company intends to establish franchised retail shops throughout
Australia to sell its paper and other value added products to
the retail customers. The Company will source local and imported
raw materials as well as value added products and sell them
locally, as well as exporting those material and products to
which Hemp Resources has added value.
Best Hemp® was registered by the Company as a business in
August 2002. It’s focus has been on the research and development
of oil based products that are derived from hemp seed. The oil
is currently imported and added to a wide range of personal
care products.
Hemp Culture™ was also registered by the company to import
hemp fabrics from China for value adding. Hemp Resources, through
its manufacturing arrangement with L.T.K. Clothing in Malaga,
Western Australia, will produce a broad range of quality ladies
and men’s fashion clothing, high quality uniforms, kids
clothes, sports and leisure wear.
Martin Ernegg Zelfo Australia MOULDED FIBRE PRODUCTS
Zelfo is a fibreglass/ wood like, mouldable
material made solely out of plant fibres and water by means
of a sustainable process. The various fibres, such as hemp,
flax, sugar-cane and waste paper are NOT blended with any resins
or glues ensuring the eco-message is adhered to in full. This
does not affect the strength which has been shown to be superior
to many other types of plastics and wood.
Their process patented early in 2000 by a team based in Austria
was commercialised when Zelfo Australia was established. It
is suitable for use in various products because of its aesthetics,
strength and ease of use. Due to Zelfo’s novel moulding
process, rounded corners are easily incorporated into forms
and of course sharp edges can also be produced.
The various fibres they use, such as hemp, flax,
sugar-cane and waste paper are NOT blended with any resins or
glues ensuring the eco-message is adhered to in full. This does
not affect the strength which has been shown to be superior
to many other types of plastics and wood.
Zelfo is ideal for high-quality designer products including
most cylindrical products with curved surfaces. Cabinets and
three dimensional one piece cases and storage units are ideal
Zelfo products. The company’s core products are: Lamps,
Chairs and other Furniture, Toys, Lifestyle Products, Boxes,
Bowls, Jewellery, Loud Speaker Cabinets, Didgeridoos, Djembes,
Udu and most musical instruments.
Kathleen Green Happy Planet HEMP FOODS
Happy Planet is a leading company in the Australian Hemp industry,
developing Australian hemp farms and value added hemp seed and
hemp fibre products.
As a part of Happy Planet, Planet Hemp Products was born and
have been actively promoting and supplying Australian grown
and made hemp products since 2004,
Planet Hemp Products has the largest contract in Australia to
date to farm industrial hemp.
Over the last 3 years they have developed their range of products
to provide something that can be used and enjoyed by everyone
in the family, including your pets. In 2006 they launched Skoobie
Snax winner of the 2007 "Finest Feast Award" at the
Paws and Claws Journal Inaugural Awards; and Superior Health
Choice for dogs containing the superior protein source, hemp
seed, as well as essential fats, omegas 3, 6, 9 and GLA, an
important fatty acid, particularly for women and usually found
in Evening Primrose Oil.
In May, 2007, Happy Planet moved and expanded to a 2000sq.metre
sugar milling
warehouse in Hendra, Brisbane and installed the first ever oxygen,
light and heat free milling plant in the world. It is certified
organic, enabling them to not only mill sugar and industrial
hemp but grains as well. Most importantly, this means that they
now control the processing of their hempseed from the farm to
the consumer.
Klara Marosszeky Morrowby Futures HEMP
MASONRY
Klara has been involved in the hemp industry since 1999 as
an agricultural researcher and in late 2000 she began working
with UNSW to develop hemp masonry products for the commercial
market. Her goal is to introduce affordable hemp masonry products
to the mainstream construction industry.
Currently the construction industry contributes huge amounts
of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Industrial
hemp which sequesters high levels of carbon while it is growing
forms a durable masonry material when it is combined with lime
based binders. Buildings constructed from hemp masonry lock
up that carbon.
.
Hemp masonry has been around for a long time with remnants of
ancient hemp constructions still in existence today in France.
Currently there is a worldwide interest in hemp masonry both
because it’s a building material made from a fast growing
renewable resource and because the masonry material itself does
not have to be kiln baked. So the production process is energy
efficient and from monitoring hemp houses built in Suffolk England
it’s been proven that the material is thermally efficient
as well.
The University of Hawaii has been researching the material
because unlike conventional masonry materials, hemp masonry
retains a flexibility that makes it an excellent building material
in areas prone to extreme weather conditions.
There will be a hemp building demonstration in the
Industrial Hemp Expo tent in Peace Park from 10 – 11am
on Saturday and Sunday.
