Processing Coal-ash into High-Value Building Products

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J_VMohoW6Y&w=420&h=345]

Here’s a short video in which I present the business case for a company with a patented technology surrounding the processing of coal-ash. I’ve not seen the process in action, but I’ve read that it involves a proprietary resin that is mixed with the ash, enabling building products, with characteristics similar to wood, to be extruded. The process is not cost-competitive with wood in the form of fence-board, but it is quite competitive with other building products, e.g., roofing shingles, which actually have superior characteristics in terms of durability.

Here, we have the ultimate in terms of turning lemons to lemonade: we take a feedstock that represents an environmental hazard, and inexpensively create products of considerable value.