Black-women-owned company Fly Ash Brick Technology says that State-owned power utility Eskom has come on board in its quest to convert the utility’s fly ash into bricks.
Fly ash has become a problem for Eskom and it is selling some to cement manufacturers, but the remainder is buried or put in slurry dams.
The technology to convert fly ash into bricks was developed in the US and the bricks are stronger than traditional bricks. The technology received Time magazine’s Technology of the Year award in 2008.
Eskom has a problem at the moment regarding carbon dioxide and its greenhouse effect and is desperately in need of carbon credits. The technology not only helps Eskom get rid of the fly ash, but also gives the company the opportunity to gain enormous carbon credits.
Fly Ash Technology MD Clive Varejes tells Engineering News that the company is planning to build two brick factories at a cost of R18-million.
“One factory will be built in Kriel, in Mpumalanga, owing to the quality of the ash available, and the other might be in Arnot, in Mpumalanga, or in another province. Each factory will be capable of producing 48-million bricks a year,” says Varejes.
A number of organisations and international companies have stated that this brick would be their brick of choice.
The bricks do not have to be heated at 1 200˚ for 24 hours; rather, they consume only 10% of the electricity, which saves enormous amounts of electricity. While fly ash bricks are slightly more expensive than clay bricks, the carbon credits that they will earn will make them viable.
“There is more demand for the bricks and we are looking at applying for authorised carbon credits to the UN,” affirms Varejes.
He notes that another linked company, Advanced Enzyme Industries, is building a 500-m private road in Midrand to create awareness of another product that is used in the designing of roads.
The road construction method has received various American roads agency seals of approval.
The enzyme is totally neutral and will not affect the environment and has been in use in the US, South America, Russia and Eastern Europe for over ten years.