1951 Coal Ash Bricks

We submit to you herein just more evidence of the fact that our unjustly maligned Coal Ash can serve admirably, and be profitably employed, as a substitute raw material in the manufacture of kiln-fired ceramics, with the understanding that regular old "bricks", coarse as they might appear, do qualify as ceramics.
That fact was confirmed not all that long ago by our United States Navy, as seen in our report of:
- Ash-based Ceramic Materials; 1996; Assignee: The USA as Represented by the Secretary of the Navy; Abstract: A ceramic material made from raw coal fly ash".

Japan Makes More Hydrogen from Water and Sunlight

As we occasionally note, some, but not all, of the seemingly more effective processes for converting our abundant Coal and our some-say-too-abundant Carbon Dioxide into needed hydrocarbons, as, for just two examples, seen in:
West Virginia Coal Association | Exxon Multi-Stage Hydrogen Donor Coal Liquefaction | Research & Development; concerning, in part: "United States Patent 4,210,518 - Hydrogen-donor Coal Liquefaction Process; 1980; Exxon Research and Engineering Company; Abstract: Improved liquid yields are obtained during the hydrogen-donor solvent liquefaction of coal ... . Government Interests: The Government of the United States of America has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. E(49-18)-2353 awarded by the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration. Claims: A hydrogen-donor liquefaction process for converting coal or similar carbonaceous solids into lower molecular weight liquid hydrocarbons. In processes of this type, the coal ... is contacted with molecular hydrogen and a hydrogen-donor solvent at elevated temperature and pressure in a liquefaction zone"; and:

China Recovers Aluminum and Silica from Coal Ash

We've documented for you in a number of past reports that Coal Ash can serve as a viable, and valuable, source of Aluminum, or Aluminum Ore.
Those reports have included, for a few examples:
West Virginia Coal Association | Iowa Mines Metals from Coal Ash for the USDOE | Research & Development; concerning, in part: "United States Patent 4,397,822 - Process for the Recovery of Alumina from Fly Ash; 1983; Inventor: Marlyn Murtha, Iowa; Government Interests: The United States Government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. W-7405-ENG-82 between the U.S. Department of Energy and Ames Laboratory. Abstract: An improvement in the lime-sinter process for recovering alumina from pulverized coal fly ash is disclosed. The addition of from 2 to 10 weight percent carbon and sulfur to the fly ash-calcium carbonate mixture increase alumina recovery at lower sintering temperatures";

US Navy Recovers Environmental CO2 for Hydrocarbon Synthesis

Carbon Dioxide, as it is co-produced in only small amounts, relative to natural sources of emission such as the Earth's inexorable processes of planetary volcanism, from our essential use of Coal in the generation of abundant and truly economical electric power, is a valuable raw material resource.
That fact is indirectly confirmed by the document we enclose in this dispatch; which is a bit redundant, relative to a report we made seven months ago, as accessible via:
West Virginia Coal Association | US Navy Reclaims CO2 for Hydrocarbon Synthesis | Research & Development; concerning: "US Patent Application 20100028242 - Recovery of CO2 from Seawater/Aqueous Bicarbonate Systems; February, 2010; Inventors: Heather Willauer, Dennis Hardy, et. al.; Naval Research Laboratory, DC; The present invention is generally directed to a system for recovering CO2 from seawater or aqueous bicarbonate solutions using a gas permeable membrane with multiple layers. At elevated pressures, gaseous CO2 and bound CO2 in the ionic form of bicarbonate and carbonate diffuse from the seawater or bicarbonate solution through the multiple layers of the membrane. Also disclosed is the related method of recovering CO2 from seawater or aqueous bicarbonate solutions".

Chicago 1883 Coal to Hydrocarbon Synthesis Gas

Concerning our headline, to be clear:
"Hydrocarbon Synthesis Gas", or just "Syngas", is typically used to mean a blend of Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen which can, as explained via:
Syngas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; "Syngas (or Synthesis gas) is the name given to a gas mixture that contains varying amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Examples of production methods include the gasification of coal (and) biomass. Syngas is used as an intermediate in producing synthetic petroleum for use as a fuel or lubricant via (for one example) the Fischer-Tropsch process"; and, via: