Cannabis Tech’s editorial team sat down with the leaders at Draconis Extraction Technologies — Tommie Flannery Baskis, Director and CEO, Max LePera, Vice President and Paul Thomas Baskis, Scientist and Inventor — to talk about how their all-natural, alcohol extraction process is scalable for producing product for cottage industry producers all the way to commercial and industrial scale systems.
Draconis Extraction Technologies is a patented hemp and cannabis processing system which provides approximately 90% efficiency in the extraction of cannabinoids from cannabis biomass. With a focus on broad spectrum extraction, the system preserves biologically active terpenes and cannabinoids, thus offering the most effective form of the plant.
A Different Kind of Extraction Technology
While there are various forms of extraction technology on the market today, Draconis comes to the cannabis industry with a particular focus in large scale extraction — a vital method as the market demand continues to grow.
Not only is their process stand alone, but the team offers a unique background and the experience to make Draconis successful. Team scientist, Paul Thomas Baskis is a nationally and internationally known inventor holding several patents and patents pending in waste to energy conversion, waste treatment, and waste minimization. He brings to the table a 30-plus year background in technology development for industrial and commercial size processes and is considered the man behind the machine.
With pride in their operation, Tommie stated, “Our turn-key business model and showing our support for our Military Veterans are so important to us.” In all, Draconis offers the full package of designing, building, and managing the cannabis facility, even employing Security Services from Ex-Special Forces men.
Why Is Industrial Scale So Important?
Up until now, cannabis has been operating in the cottage industry size, which has made CBD oil incredibly expensive and inaccessible to many people. Draconis intends to change this. Understanding the future of cannabis lies primarily in mass production (i.e., food and beverage markets), extraction needs to move towards large scale industrial processing. Mass production is efficient and can open the door to people who need access to cannabis — much more than small scale processes which only produce around 200 pounds a day. The fully automated facilities used in the industrial scale extraction technology of Draconis are also less labor intensive and expensive.
Max also mentioned another fact of efficiency and low cost in Draconis process design and that, “we are able to recover better than 95% of the alcohol used in the process.
Although this doesn’t mean industrial-scale processes will render small scale extraction technologies irrelevant. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Because Draconis’ techniques produce winterized high-grade crude, it can then be used to more efficiently produce isolates from C02 and other smaller extraction systems.
Environmental Responsibility
With each passing day, sustainability becomes more important than ever before, especially regarding the cannabis industry. Draconis takes this to heart — embodying the essence of a circular economy.
Their root technology emulates nature. It’s a sustainable platform offering a clean, safe and environmentally friendly paradigm. After producing CBD oil, there’s biomass residual. This can be used to create clean electrical energy for off-grid living or make fixed organic carbon which can then go back to the soil. The team even discussed their earth to earth logo which is currently pending trademark. Yet, broad-spectrum CBD oil is just a fraction of the project. With the recent passage of the 2018 farm bill, they’re setting their sights on hemp.
Draconis’ industrial scale technology will promote the proliferation of hemp — all geared around a sustainability platform. Doing so can help eliminate carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, utilize less water than similar consumer crops and offer higher quantities of pulp and yield that can be used to produce plastic alternatives and microcrystalline cellulose.
The Future of Draconis
Like other cannabis companies looking to the future, we chatted a bit about what’s on the horizon for Draconis and what their ideal customer looks like — it included bites from several different profiles.
Farmer cooperatives — With Draconis’ focus on sustainability and environmental responsibility, it’s no surprise that their technology has sparked interest from farmer cooperatives. Draconis considers it a win-win when farmers come together and want to invest. By doing so, they’ll own a piece of an extraction plant, product distributions come back to them, and the fruits of their labor will be harvested.
Major CBD oil retailers — Looking to integrate and boost ROI vertically, their large-scale processes have caught the eye of several CBD oil retailers. By doing their own extraction, CBD oil retailers then control procedures, practices, and standards and maintain control over their supply chain. Excess capacity can then be used to feed other revenue streams through vertical integration.
Draconis Extraction Technologies is no doubt unique to the cannabis industry. Through industrial scale systems, major corporations, grower cooperatives, and general investors all can enter this space with minimal need for expertise.
To learn more about Draconis Extraction Technologies and the work they’re doing, check out their website here.
