Coal operator Alpha takes stake in Class C ash-based cement purveyor Ceratech

Sources: Alpha Natural Resources, Abingdon, Va.; CP staff

A major coal producer has acquired a 10.3 percent position in Alexandria, Va.-based Ceratech Inc., whose Ekkomaxx technology can yield concrete binding agents with performance characteristics reportedly matching ASTM C150 Types I–V powder.

Alpha Natural Resources can increase its Ceratech stake to 28.3 percent under certain future terms. It becomes the second coal producer to invest in prospective concrete technology offsetting carbon dioxide emissions from either portland cement production or fossil fuel-fired power generation. In April 2010, market leader Peabody Energy took a $15 million interest in Calera Corp., whose calcium carbonate precipitation processes—applied to power plants’ flue gas streams—are netting concrete-grade fine aggregate.

Read More

Environmentalists scoff at EPA coal ash recycling data

Sources: Environmental Integrity Project, Washington, D.C.; Earthjustice, San Francisco

By Don Marsh

Proponents of an onerous, Environmental Protection Agency-proposed rule governing disposal of utilities’ coal combustion residuals (CCR) are challenging agency officials’ $23 billion estimate of the value of concrete-grade fly ash and other marketable-CCR recycling.

Read More