State and County officials attended a press conference on Wednesday, October 26 at the University of Utah Industrial Combustion and Gasification Facility to listen to engineers from the university introduce a $1.6 million project to explore ways to convert coal into carbon fiber materials.

Casey Hopes, Carbon County Commissioner was in attendance and gave his take on the press conference, “Jay Williams the Assistant Secretary of Commerce from the Economic Development from Washington D.C. flew in yesterday and he came to Utah of all places, of all the coal effective communities he came to Utah because of what’s happening in the development of new coal research and technology.”

This new technology could revolutionize what we do with the coal that is currently being mined out of the ground. “The specific project they’re talking about is a carbon fiber technology; they’re able to extract carbon pitch from coal and make a carbon composite material,” said Hopes. There were several items on display at the conference made from carbon fiber such as prosthetic legs, skis, snowboards, airplane wings. The carbon fiber is a lighter and stronger material that has been used in years past.

This comes on the heels of a current project in the works with Utah State University called coking coal which is an essential ingredient in steel production. “So with that they take the bi-product and actually make some of this pitch that can be used to make carbon fiber. So now that we have two products that are working hand in hand, there is no waste and it drives a whole new economy for our coal in our community. Once we get the carbon pitch, maybe we start getting some of those manufacturing jobs that everyone is wanting,” stated Hopes.

The possibilities are endless for our community and it’s been sometime that we have seen something positive when it comes to the coal industry which has been what we are known for.