Politico examines Coal Country, Silicon Valley relationship
James Higdon in Politico takes a look at the complex relationship between Coal Country and solar power. Reporting from Williamsburg, KY, he writes that Whitley County, in the Appalachian foothills, lost 216 coal-mining jobs in the first quarter of this year.
There is nevertheless some optimism in the county—partly due to the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. But the most significant reason for optimism is that the county sits on a variety of hot-burning low-ash metallurgic coal called “blue gem,” useful for manufacturing electronics-grade silicon.
Higdon quotes Deb Moses, a recently laid-off miner, as saying, “Without Coal Valley, there’s no Silicon Valley.”
As of 2012, Higdon reports, Kentucky had 5.5 billion tons, or a 35-year supply, of metallurgic coal.
In addition, a reserve called the Fire Clay seam includes rare-earth elements that can be extracted during the coal-cleaning process from clay waste products. Higdon quotes Dr. Rick Honaker, the chairman of the the University of Kentucky’s Department of Mining, as saying, “What was the environmental headache of coal could be an economic gem. We can do it today. The problem today is that China controls the market and keeps the REE prices suppressed.”
Adds Higdon, “So if Silicon Valley were ever interested in repatriating its smart phone supply chain, the first thing it would need is a reliable domestic supply of REEs, and according to Dr. Honaker, there’s a 20-year supply in eastern Kentucky.”
However, in coal country these days every silver lining seems to have a cloud. Higdon writes that earlier this year, “…Apple pledged to work towards a zero-mining future, envisioning its primary source for its aluminum, silicon, and REEs to come from recycling instead of China or eastern Kentucky.”
