Energy Secretary Granholm, Senator Manchin review update on coal innovations

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) were briefed on X-MAT CCC’s work to develop coal-derived building materials for a home built from coal.

MORGANTOWN, West Virginia (June 9, 2021) – X-MAT CCC was invited to exhibit at the National Research Center for Coal and Energy at West Virginia University on June 4, 2021. Secretary Granholm and Senator Manchin attended the exhibition, stopped at the X-MAT CCC table and handled one of the company’s prototype building blocks.

Based in Bluefield, West Virginia, X-MAT CCC is developing coal-derived roof tiles and structural building materials, using coal from West Virginia and other coal states, with the goal of building a home made from coal. The work has drawn support from the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), including:

• a $625,000 contract to create the coal-derived building materials needed to construct the house
• a $1.4 million contract to create new uses for coal waste
• a $1.5 million grant for X-TILES™
• a nearly $1 million contract supporting research into the use of coal in battery materials

Founder Bill Easter described the research as important to the long-term viability of coal, with the potential to one day support thousands of jobs in West Virginia and other coal regions.

X-MAT CCC is a sister company to Orlando-based X-MAT®, the Advanced Materials Division of Semplastics and a client company of the UCF Innovation District at Research Park.