From abandoned mines to store shelves: OU transforms coal waste into renewable materials
ATHENS — A group of scientists and researchers at Ohio University are turning the legacy of the coal industry on its head by taking waste that could lead to acid mine drainage and transforming it into renewable building materials, Styrofoam alternatives and more.
Jason Trembly, director of the university's Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment, is among those who have pioneered a path forward for coal waste — the product of an environmentally damaging energy source that powered the country for generations on the backs of Appalachian miners — to have a second life.
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Over the past six years, thanks to a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, Trembly and his team at OU have developed technology that separates carbon from coal waste — allowing them to create sustainable carbon-based building materials that could be coming to market soon.
That technology captured the eyes and imagination of Reps. Bill Johnson (R-Marietta) and Troy Balderson (R-Zanesville) on Wednesday when they toured the university to see the work of Trembly and his team for themselves and offer their legislative support in securing the institute additional federal funding.
"We have a wealth of coal in eastern and southeastern Ohio, and to be able to use those resources as building materials is huge," Johnson said. "We have a shortage of building materials — the construction industry always (is) sitting around waiting."
Not to mention, Balderson said, this kind of innovation builds on Ohio's reputation as a leader in cutting-edge technology now that Intel will build two computer chip manufacturing facilities in Licking County, part of his district.
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Gesturing to a display of carbon-based deck paneling, PVC pipes and 3D-printable filaments in his lab on Wednesday, Trembly smiled.
"The carbon-dioxide emissions are 60-80% less than your typical wood-based product," he said. "And it allows us to clean up legacy mining sites where there are billions of tons of material that's available."
The mechanical engineering professor and his multidisciplinary team of civil engineers, chemists and physicists anticipate it will be about a year before these decking materials will be ready for commercialization, but they should ultimatelybe cheaper than wood-based paneling, Trembly said. It will cost roughly $1.75 per square foot for a carbon-based panel, as opposed to a wood alternative that ranges somewhere between $2 and $6 a square foot.
"I'm hoping, if everything goes right, maybe next year you can go to Lowe's and pick a piece off the shelf," he said.
Across the lab, one of Trembly's industry partners, Rudy Olson, held up a chunk of carbon-based foam, which looks suspiciously like a piece of Styrofoam dyed dark gray, but is heavier, more metallic and less malleable
Olson, the general manager and chief technical officer of West Virginia-based CFOAM, explained that his company, which has partnered on previous projects with Trembly's team at Ohio University, has developed a way to turn coal into foam. It then can be used for composite tooling in manufacturing and blast protection systems in the aerospace industry.
"This is a game changer," Balderson said during Wednesday's tour.
For the university's president, Hugh Sherman, this kind of development is a key tenet of OU's mission to serve the Appalachian region.
"This is a way for us to set the path forward and really focus on key areas and invest in them," he said.
And far as Trembly is concerned, carbon-based materials are the future of renewable technology. He told the Congressmen that within 10 to 15 years, commercial manufacturing facilities could employ thousands in the region, with all of them part of turning legacy coal waste into an environmentally-friendly, long-lasting material.
"There's never going to be one silver bullet," he cautioned. "But using coal renewables is going to be a big part of the future supply chain."
So what's next? Funding from a provision in CHIPS Act would be key.
Trembly's goals are ambitious.
"Ideally, we want to create advanced carbon-based materials that will supply the energy industry and create high-paying jobs," he said.
The only roadblock to that future, so far, is funding, but help is likely on the way.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 into law, which sets aside $52 billion to boost domestic manufacturing of computer chips. The law includes a provision championed by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) that sets aside roughly $50 million for two carbon materials research centers, Balderson explained.
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Although the particulars have not been fleshed out just yet, Ohio University will have an opportunity to apply for a portion of that funding, between $20 and $25 million, to establish a center run by the Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment, the Congressman said.
During Wednesday's tour, both Balderson and Johnson pledged to help Trembly and his team secure that funding — starting with writing a letter to the U.S. Department of Energy describing the value of the institute's work.
Johnson, who serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, pointed out that Ohio has a legacy of innovation — from Thomas Edison’s lightbulb to the Wright brothers’ airplane to the accomplishments of John Glenn and Neil Armstrong in space.
“It’s just so exciting to me to see more futuristic breakthroughs coming out of OU,” he said.
Céilí Doyle is a Report for America corps member and covers rural issues in Ohio for The Dispatch. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible gift at https://bit.ly/3fNsGaZ.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio University transforms coal into environmentally-friendly material
