March 11, 2025
Dr. Zehao Jin, recent graduate of the Hsu-Kim lab, just published his paper describing a model for the quantity and chemical contents of coal ash produced at major coal fired power plants in the United States over the last few decades. Congrats!
Dr. Jin's model is based on historical coal purchase records from U.S. coal mines and his data that links the source of coal to the chemical quality of coal ash wastes. With this model, we can now assess the resource reserves of coal ash across the U.S. These insights can be used to spur the harvesting and closure of coal ash landfills and to reuse these waste for alternative applications such as building materials and structural fill.
Jin, Z., Huang, J., Hower, J.C. and Hsu-Kim, H., 2025. Predictive Assessment of the Chemical Composition of Coal Ash in Reserve at US Disposal Sites. Environmental Science & Technology. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.4c12705
