Researchers eye coal ash as a possible source of critical minerals -- and Southwest Virginia jobs
Coal as a source of power generation may be headed toward the dust heap of history, but its ashes are destined to be considerably longer-lived — and, some hope, could become a building block of tomorrow’s electricity and many other crucial products.
The byproducts of burning coal for electricity are a widely recognized environmental liability. Millions of tons of coal ash — an umbrella term for ash particles, boiler slag, sludge and other coal plant residues — have been stockpiled around the U.S. in ponds and landfills. Virginia is home to more than 26 disposal sites, of which five are still active.
Containing arsenic, mercury and cadmium and other heavy metals that can contaminate water supplies, coal ash was propelled onto the national environmental agenda by high-profile spills at impoundment ponds in Tennessee in 2008 and North Carolina in 2014. The latter spill led to the release of thousands of tons of coal ash and millions of gallons of contaminated water into the Dan River in both Virginia and North Carolina.
Now, researchers and state and federal officials are hoping to tap into the industrial waste stream for some of the key building blocks of a new energy system built on renewables and batteries: rare earth elements and critical minerals such as aluminum, cobalt, lithium and titanium.
Read more: https://www.virginiamercury.com/2021/07/07/researchers-eye-coal-ash-as-a-possible-source-of-critical-minerals-and-southwest-virginia-jobs/
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