Wasn’t born a coal miner’s son, but…

What do you do with 100 million tons of coal ash?

From the article:

Dump trucks – each loaded with 20 tons of coal ash – make some 200 trips a day from Duke Energy’s Lake Julian power plant to the Asheville Regional Airport, where the toxic material is used as fill to create flat, usable land.

The disposal method is considered a cost-effective and environmentally sound reuse of the material. About 4 million tons will have been removed from the plant’s two ash ponds by the time the project ends next year.

But, as state lawmakers struggle with legislation to better manage coal ash in the wake of the Feb. 2 spill into the Dan River, there are concerns about what to do with amounts of the byproduct far larger than what’s being reused in Asheville.

Duke estimates there are 102 million tons of coal ash in 33 ponds across the state.

Sen. Tom Apodaca, a Hendersonville Republican guiding passage of a bill to close ash ponds, said there isn’t enough room to dispose of all that material in lined landfills.

“We have to find alternative uses for coal ash,” he said. “We sent a man to the moon in 1969. I think we can clean up coal ash in 2014.”

The proposed legislation approved by the Senate would require Duke to close the ash ponds at the Asheville plant and three other facilities by 2019. These plants are considered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to be “high risk” because of the potential for property damage and loss of life if the dams were to fail. Low-risk ash ponds could be granted as many as 15 years to close….

Dump trucks – each loaded with 20 tons of coal ash – make some 200 trips a day from Duke Energy’s Lake Julian power plant to the Asheville Regional Airport, where the toxic material is used as fill to create flat, usable land.

The disposal method is considered a cost-effective and environmentally sound reuse of the material. About 4 million tons will have been removed from the plant’s two ash ponds by the time the project ends next year.

But, as state lawmakers struggle with legislation to better manage coal ash in the wake of the Feb. 2 spill into the Dan River, there are concerns about what to do with amounts of the byproduct far larger than what’s being reused in Asheville.

Duke estimates there are 102 million tons of coal ash in 33 ponds across the state.

Sen. Tom Apodaca, a Hendersonville Republican guiding passage of a bill to close ash ponds, said there isn’t enough room to dispose of all that material in lined landfills.

“We have to find alternative uses for coal ash,” he said. “We sent a man to the moon in 1969. I think we can clean up coal ash in 2014.”

The proposed legislation approved by the Senate would require Duke to close the ash ponds at the Asheville plant and three other facilities by 2019. These plants are considered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to be “high risk” because of the potential for property damage and loss of life if the dams were to fail. Low-risk ash ponds could be granted as many as 15 years to close….

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Following posted & updated  Jul 1, 2014 on internet:

The Senate last week approved legislation that would require Duke to close and clean up all of its ash ponds within 15 years. Four “high-risk” coal ash sites would have to be closed by Aug. 1, 2019, and the state would prioritize the other 10 North Carolina sites where ash is stored in giant lagoons.

House plan creates deadline loophole for cleaning coal ash ponds – WRAL.com

From the 2014 article:

RALEIGH, N.C. — Duke Energy could bypass deadlines for cleaning up its North Carolina coal ash ponds under a revised bill that House members rolled out Tuesday.

The Senate last week approved legislation that would require Duke to close and clean up all of its ash ponds within 15 years.

Four “high-risk” coal ash sites would have to be closed by Aug. 1, 2019, and the state would prioritize the other 10 North Carolina sites where ash is stored in giant lagoons. Any others rated as high risks would have a Dec. 31, 2019, deadline assigned for cleanup, while those rated as intermediate risks would have to be excavated and closed by the end of 2024. Sites deemed low risk could be covered and left in place but would have to be closed by the end of 2029.

A proposal that the House Environment Committee was expected to debate Wednesday would give the Department of Environment and Natural Resources secretary the power to grant a variance to any deadline if Duke shows “compliance with the deadline cannot be achieved by application of best available technology found to be economically reasonable at the time and would produce serious hardship without equal or greater benefits to the public,” according to a summary of the bill.

“We want to make sure the timelines are workable,” said Rep. Ruth Samuelson….

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Coal-fired power plants typically account for over two-fifths of the State’s electricity generation, followed by nuclear power that supplies a third.

Duke researchers: NC coal ash could be a resource, not just a hazard

From the 8/12/2019 article:

Excavating every coal ash dump in North Carolina could cost up to $10 billion, according to estimates by the N.C. Utilities Commission, but it’s possible the coal ash itself could foot part of the bill. While state lawmakers and environmental authorities are fixated on coal ash as a hazard, some are beginning to think of the waste as a resource.

Rare earth elements – key ingredients of technologies like smart phones, electric car batteries and bulletproof glass – are found in abundance in coal ash and could be mined for profit, according to Duke University researchers. Helen Hsu-Kim, an environmental engineering professor at Duke University, and her student Ross Taggart study the chemicals that make up coal ash from regions throughout the United States and have found that ash from the Appalachia region contains more rare earth elements than other regions.

Coal ash is held in ponds or above-ground landfills at 14 Duke Energy power plants throughout North Carolina. The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality classifies all 14 sites as hazardous enough to recommend that they be excavated. Duke Energy says it’s unlikely that extraction of rare earth elements will be a solution to its coal ash in North Carolina. Dawn Santoianni, a spokeswoman for Duke Energy, notes that the state has given the company 18 months to make coal ash storage sites safer before they will be reevaluated and possibly excavated to move the ash to more secure locations. And, Santoianni says, the technology to extract metals from coal ash on a large scale is just not ready yet….

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It seems to me there could be some real beneficial “gain of function” in research on extracting rare earth metals from Appalachia Coal Ash instead of depending on China for them. Biologists did it!

Now, if one man’s toxic garbage could be another man’s treasure, which would create jobs in mining all these precious rare earth elements, cleaning it up for the benefit of all would be a good thing indeed! With some financial incentives for the CEO, Boardmembers and all the stock holders of Duke Energy, investing some of their profits from their energy investments could be a reasonable enticement toward reinvesting in cleaning up the mess they made from their former profits!

Keeping the cost of electricity neutral for the consumers would also be the “right thing to do“! Let the mess makers clean up their own mess while making something in the process, and not just buy politicians that will postpone and/or put it all on the backs of the people they’re supposed to represent. Greed and laziness are bad companions!

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Status on Duke Energy’s coal ash ponds

BUT…

Biden Announces He’s Going to Shut Coal Plants Down Across America During Major Energy Crisis, Says General Motors Committed to Going “All Electric by 3035” (VIDEO)

That’s 13 years and winters from now!

While…

Worldwide Coal Usage Skyrockets Ahead Of Major UN Climate Conference

From the article:

The global energy crisis is causing coal use to soar ahead of the United Nations’ COP27 summit, where countries will renew pledges to phase out fossil fuels, Bloomberg reported Friday.

Numerous world leaders, including President Joe Biden, will attend Egypt’s COP27 to discuss plans to slash carbon emissions and promote green energy amid a raging energy crisis. Meanwhile, coal-fired electricity generation, particularly in Europe, is surging as Russian natural gas and renewable energy sources are in short supply, according to Bloomberg. (RELATED: Global Energy Chief That Told Countries Not To Invest In Fossil Fuels Is Now Sounding The Alarm On Europe’s Gas Crisis)

More than 40 countries agreed to completely phase out or defund coal projects during 2021’s COP26 climate conference, according to the BBC. Although coal produces more emissions than any other fossil fuel, coal-fired electricity production could set a record for the second-straight year as energy-starved countries refire coal plants to power their economies in the winter months, Bloomberg reported….

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Will they burn it as cleanly and efficiently as…

U.S. coal burning is world’s most efficient and clean.

But once burnt, there’s the…

Coal ash, what is it good for?

Coal Ash Basics

From the article:

What is coal ash?

Regulations

• EPA published regulations to address the risks from the disposal of the wastes generated by electric utilities and independent power producers.
• EPA finalized the first federal limits on the levels of toxic metals in wastewater that can be discharged from power plants on November 3, 2015.

Coal ash, also referred to as coal combustion residuals or CCRs, is produced primarily from the burning of coal in coal-fired power plants.  Coal ash includes a number of by-products produced from burning coal, including:

• Fly Ash, a very fine, powdery material composed mostly of silica made from the burning of finely ground coal in a boiler.
• Bottom Ash, a coarse, angular ash particle that is too large to be carried up into the smoke stacks so it forms in the bottom of the coal furnace.
• Boiler Slag, molten bottom ash from slag tap and cyclone type furnaces that turns into pellets that have a smooth glassy appearance after it is cooled with water.
• Flue Gas Desulfurization Material, a material leftover from the process of reducing sulfur dioxide emissions from a coal-fired boiler that can be a wet sludge consisting of calcium sulfite or calcium sulfate or a dry powered material that is a mixture of sulfites and sulfates.

Other types of by-products are:

• fluidized bed combustion ash,
• cenospheres, and
• scrubber residues….

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Coal Ash Reuse

From the article:

Coal ash, also referred to as coal combustion residuals (CCR), can be used in different products and materials. Coal ash can be beneficially used to replace virgin materials removed from the earth, thus conserving natural resources. EPA encourages the beneficial use of coal ash in an appropriate and protective manner, because this practice can produce positive environmental, economic, and product benefits such as:

• reduced use of virgin resources,
• lower greenhouse gas emissions,
• reduced cost of coal ash disposal, and
• improved strength and durability of materials.

While the beneficial use of coal ash has these potential benefits, the environmental impacts associated with their use should also be considered. The most recent available data from responses to an American Coal Ash Association (ACAA) survey of electric utilities shows that in 2018, at least 41 million tons of coal ash were beneficially used.

On this page:

• How is the Beneficial Use of Coal Ash Currently Regulated?
• Encapsulated Beneficial Use
• Unencapsulated Beneficial Use

How is the Beneficial Use of Coal Ash Currently Regulated?…

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Using Coal Ash Fertilizer

From the article:

Fertilizers replenish nutrients in garden soil to nourish plants and encourage healthy growth and different types of fertilizers provide different types of nourishment. Coal ash is one such fertilizer. Coal ash as a fertilizer is controversial among gardeners, with some supporting its use and others avoiding it. Arm yourself with information about coal ash fertilizer to determine if it is the best choice for your garden….

Is Ash Good for Plants?

Coal ash fertilizer helps dry, hard-packed soil become easier to work and lighter in consistency. Coal ashes make the soil more efficient for plants, allowing roots to grow more quickly, air to move more freely and bacteria to work more easily.

Coal ash does not add many nutrients to the soil as most fertilizers do, however it greatly improves the texture of the soil for working and ease of plant growth.

Is Ash Good for Plants?

Coal ash fertilizer helps dry, hard-packed soil become easier to work and lighter in consistency. Coal ashes make the soil more efficient for plants, allowing roots to grow more quickly, air to move more freely and bacteria to work more easily.

Coal ash does not add many nutrients to the soil as most fertilizers do, however it greatly improves the texture of the soil for working and ease of plant growth. Coal ash also raises the pH of acidic soil. As you gather it yourself, coal ash is an economical option for gardeners looking to improve soil texture.

As you gather it yourself, coal ash is an economical option for gardeners looking to improve soil texture….

{I’ve used wood ash for years to raise soil pH!}

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But what about those heavy metal rare earth elements?

From 2018…

COAL ASH WATER TREATMENT: HEAVY METALS REMOVAL THROUGH ENHANCED FILTRATION

From the 11/2018 article:

…ProAct’s mobilized treatment system began with pH adjustment, as the solubility of each metal is in part a function of the acidity of water. Iron salts were next injected into the treatment train, a flocculant method historically proven to reduce dissolved arsenic concentrations. While efficient in capturing dissolved arsenic, these particles remain difficult to remove through physical filtration because of their small size.

To remove iron flocs and particulate metals, two of HaloKlear’s natural flocculants were coupled to increase filtration efficacy. Adding the two flocculants together added weight to smaller particles, so a clarifier could be used to remove the metals. Collected sludge from each clarifier was then sent to geotextile bags for bulk dewatering and sediment control. These bags removed the treated flocs that resulted from the paired flocculants, reduced sludge volume, and associated disposal costs as decant water was returned to the treatment process. This water then passed through sand and bag filters and through a final polishing filter. The usage rate of bag filter elements was dramatically decreased through the enhancement of the chemical treatment steps.

Over the course of dewatering activities on site, ProAct’s filtration and HaloKlear’s Natural Flocculants treated over 227.6 million gallons of water at flows up to 3,000 gpm with no discharge violations. The system’s successful performance will be the basis for future dewatering application design and operation….

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Then turn it over for the other uses!

FOLLOW THE SCIENCE!

Where have we heard that before?!?!

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Spent some unexpected extra time in this blog for a response to the two news articles I wanted to address. (It’s all good!) I would like to dedicate all that extra time spent in researching the subject to:

The One and Only Queen of Country,

A Real Coal Miner’s Daughter!

Love her songs!

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Yawl have a nice TGIF!

LOLGB+