Fly Ash Regulation would "Skyrocket" the Cost of Concrete

The Fly Ash Threat

Despite our recent reports on the subject, we here, in our isolate  little frontier outpost, remain uncertain as to the current status of Coal Ash regulation/designation by the US EPA.

As we have documented, there are legislative initiatives still "ou  there", despite rejection of a proposed Coal Ash addendum to the Surface Transportation Act of 2012; more about which can be learned via:

Coal ash provision removed from transportation bill - Business, Government Legal News from throughout WV.

But, we miners and users of Coal, and we consumers of genuinely economical electricity, it might be heartening to note, are not the only ones who are lobbying for some sort of restraint to be put on the EPA's callous disregard for environmental and economic realities in their seeming drive to designate Coal Combustion Byproducts as hazardous waste.

WV Senators Rockefeller and Manchin Support Coal Ash Reuse


Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act (S. 1751) - GovTrack.us

Since there has been a recent flurry of what we will politely and generously label as "editorial comment", concerning statements attributed to West Virginia's senior US Senator, Jay Rockefeller, about the issues surrounding the disposition of our Coal Combustion Byproducts, i.e., Coal Ash, and a recent Transportation Bill, appearing in the Coal Country press, and even in a trade publication or two we would have hoped would have been more up to genuine speed on the issue, we attempt herein to insert some objective facts into the so far subjective, and, from our perspective, under-informed, public discussion.

And, we do confess that we here aren't all that sophisticated in our understanding of government doings. It seems a dang shame, though, that we are the only ones, apparently, willing to make the effort to track down the pertinent information and at least take a stab at parsing it all out. Forgive us any misinterpretations.

California Algae Make Oil from Coal Power Plant Exhaust

United States Patent Application: 0080086938

Since we've lately been touting the benefits of coupling various processes for the conversion of Coal into more versatile hydrocarbons with the seemingly-logical concept of utilizing Algae to convert any byproduct Carbon Dioxide into various sorts of useful things, like Algal bio-lipids that can be refined rather directly into Diesel fuel and Algal cellulosic Biomass that can be added to, and be converted right along with, the Coal going into the Coal conversion facility, we wanted to demonstrate herein how advanced that technology is really becoming.

First, we remind you of our reports:

West Virginia Coal Association | Chevron Algae Convert CoalTL CO2 into Diesel Fuel | Research & Development; concerning: "US Patent 7,838,272 - Increased Yield in GTL Processing via Conversion of CO2 to Diesel via Microalage; 2010; Assignee: Chevron USA; Abstract: The present invention is generally directed to systems and methods for integrating gas-to-liquids (GTL) processing with biofuels production. In some embodiments of the present invention, carbon dioxide (CO2) generated by GTL processing is used to support grovel (via photosynthesis) of microalgae. In some such embodiments, the microalgae can be further processed to yield a diesel fuel that can be used either by itself, or mixed with fuel produced by the GTL processing (and) wherein the gas-to-liquids plant is operable for producing transportation fuels (and wherein) reforming of coal yields syngas according to the following equation: C + H2O = H2 + CO";and:

California Algae Eliminate Coal-to-Liquid CO2 Emissions

United States Patent Application: 0100285576

We struggled a bit trying to compose a colorful and attention-grabbing way of introducing what we present in this dispatch: a more productive and CO2-free way of converting our abundant Coal into liquid hydrocarbons.

But, if a simple and straightforward statement of the truth isn't enough to gain the notice of the political leaders and the public voices of US Coal Country, then we US Coal Country citizens, as a people, as a community, have far, far deeper problems than constraints on our supply of Oil, or some conjectural "War On Coal" spun up in the public press cotton candy machine to attract shallow attention and sell papers.

The Use fo Coal Ash in Recycled Plastic

Energy Citations Database (ECD) - - Document #565273

We've made a number of reports on the what might be the surprisingly large potentials for utilizing our Coal Ash, aka, "Coal Combustion Byproducts" or, just "CCBs", what we here insist is a raw material resource of unrecognized value, as a mineral "filler" in various types of molded plastic.

As we've explained, various minerals, most usually in the form of fine particles, or fibers of various sizes and types, are commonly blended into a plastic resin before the resin is molded, one way or another, into it's final form.

That practice can offer a number of benefits. Not only does it most often reduce the cost of whatever article might be produced, it can also, depending on the choice of filler, enhance or improve some specific physical properties of that article. 

And, concerning plastic, and plastic resins, it's important to keep in mind that there are, to generalize, two types that we have to deal with: "Thermoset" and "Thermoplastic".