About that coal problem

I love coal and it is not a problem although some enviros seem to think it is. Wonder if they have ever held a piece of it. I use it for blacksmithing and usually keep a couple nuggets in my truck to show people. It is not dirty in the least - very clean burning and environmentally friendly if burned correctly. Coal just reached a new level of awesome - from the University of Kentucky:

UK Researchers First to Produce High Grade Rare Earths From Coal
University of Kentucky researchers have produced nearly pure rare earth concentrates from Kentucky coal using an environmentally-conscious and cost-effective process, a groundbreaking accomplishment in the energy industry.

"As far as I know, our team is the first in the world to have provided a 98 percent pure rare earth concentrate from a coal source," said Rick Honaker, professor of mining engineering.

From national defense to health care, rare earth elements or REEs are essential components of technologies like iPhones, computers, missiles and other applications. Interest in REEs is at an all-time high in the U.S. right now, with the Department of Energy investing millions in research. Honaker has received $7 million from the department to produce rare earths from Kentucky coal sources, a feat he has now accomplished, and $1 million for other REE projects.

"The primary objective for our DoE (Department of Energy) project was to produce a concentrate containing a minimum of 2 percent rare earth elements," he said. "We have far exceeded this objective."

The process recovered more than 80 percent of the REEs present in the feed sources. The concentrates were comprised of more than 80 percent total rare earth elements on a dry whole mass basis and more than 98 percent rare earth oxides. More importantly, critical elements such as neodymium and yttrium — used in national defense technologies and the high-tech and renewable energy industries — represented over 45 percent of the total concentrate.

We know of a lot of REE ore deposits in the continental USA but the enviros have been sucessful in blocking any mining efforts which is downright stupid because we turn around and buy them from China who does absolutly zero environmental mitigation. Our mines would be clean but those nutcases will not let us build them. Nice to find an alternate source!