A startup is turning a familiar climate villain, coal-fired power plants, into an asset that could help clean up concrete and boost its durability.
TechCrunch reported PHNX Materials has secured $2.5 million in funding to refine its process and improve road materials by unearthing fly ash from coal plants.
The company aims to replace up to 30% of cement in concrete with the material, which could significantly decrease pollution.
In traditional concrete production, cement's process creates substantial amounts of carbon pollution, exacerbating climate issues. That pollution emerges from the fuels like oil and gas needed to heat it, as well as the carbon released in the reaction to produce it. It amounts to 0.8 tons of carbon dioxide pollution for each ton of cement produced, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
PHNX's approach could help alleviate this by transforming a higher proportion of fly ash into the mix. It believes it can both create concrete with greatly reduced pollution and make it much longer-lasting due to fly ash's properties.
To that end, ash is an extremely valuable material for concrete that has been used for centuries. It stabilizes a concrete mix and enables the material to ward off cracks over years of use.
"When you spend a billion dollars on a highway or on a bridge, you want it to last the next 100 years," PHNX's co-founder and CTO, Jorge Osio-Norgaard, told TechCrunch. "Fly ash helps achieve that goal."
As coal plants close en masse due to competing cleaner energy sources like wind and solar power, supply of ash has shortened. Other companies have jumped in trying to harvest coal ash from the 843 fly ash pits in the U.S., but much of what they gather isn't up to the standards of concrete companies.
Krish Mehta, PHNX's CEO and co-founder, noted this shortage is resulting in higher prices and lower amounts of ash in the concrete mix. That number is falling to as low as 8%, which comes with both environmental concerns of relying on so much cement and long-term safety concerns for the stability of the mix.
That's where PHNX's process comes in. It strips fly ash of sulfur and carbon from the ash to meet concrete companies' needs. That means the company can more efficiently capitalize on existing ash pits. It also sells the sulfur and other compounds that it strips away for other uses.
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Definitely 👍 "We felt that unlocking a new supply of ash was the most scalable and quickest way to decarbonize the sector," Mehta explained.
By generating new supplies of fly ash, PHNX believes it can significantly clean up the concrete industry, offering a sustainable and lower-cost option. This innovative approach could hold the key to not only environmental benefits but also more durable roads for everyone.
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