New Graphene Demo In The Works For Tiny Farmingdale, NY
The Village of Farmingdale (pop. 8000, give or take), New York, could become a graphene production hotspot if everything works out for a new R&D operation. Farmingdale happens to be the global headquarters of Cemtrex, and the company is aiming to generate graphene from flue gas at its Farmingdale facility.
If it all works out, Cemtrex is looking at a one-two sustainability punch that it can market globally: a system that reduces greenhouse gas emissions from industrial operations and produces graphene as a high-value, high tech byproduct. Such a system would be mighty attractive to companies with operations in countries that have established carbon markets.
How The Republicans Killed Coal
Cemtrex is mum on the details, so expect to hear more when the new graphene R&D facility comes online some time early next year.
In the meantime, if Cemtrex rings a bell you may be thinking of its extensive experience in industrial emissions monitoring and management.
One company highlight is a technology called VAMOX. It was developed to control low level methane emissions from coal mines, with the aim of generating carbon credits.
In a 2015 letter to shareholders, Cemtrex Chairman and CEO Saagar Govil noted that US coal companies could have used VAMOX to help monetize their assets. That’s if the US had ever implemented a cap-and-trade system, which it has not thanks mainly to opposition by Republican legislators.
China, on the other hand, is aiming for cap-and-trade next year, so Cemtrex is looking forward to implementing VAMOX over there.
Perhaps the US will soon follow China — after all, before the Koch-backed Tea Party gained political leverage in 2010, the Republican Party was quite fond of cap-and-trade. Under a president Donald Trump, though, the prospects for such a thing are quite dim.
The demise of cap-and-trade in the US enabled the domestic coal industry to miss an important opportunity to adapt to the low carbon economy of the future.
The other main factor to cripple the US coal industry has been the deluge of low cost natural gas flooding the domestic market. That’s a direct consequence of Bush-era energy policies that created a honking great loophole in federal clean water protections, enabling a surge in new output from the unconventional drilling technology known as fracking.
Republicans are fond of blaming President Obama for the collapse of coal jobs, but the fact is that in the absence of legislative action by Congress, the Obama Administration has had a tough time reigning in the natural gas fracking industry.
In addition, the coal industry has been cannibalizing its own jobs for generations, as much of the hand labor has been replaced by technology.
That trend has been topped in recent years by the emergence of mountaintop coal mining (another Bush-era legacy), which relies heavily on big machines and lots of explosive material.
Expect more coal jobs to fall under the axe if Trump wins the White House this fall.
Though the coal state of West Virginia won a juicy position at last week’s Republican National Convention, Trump’s affection for fracking is well known and rumors are swirling that he’ll tap a fracking fan as Energy Secretary.
A World Awash In Graphene
Where were we? Oh right, graphene. Graphene is a new “wonder material” that is beginning to emerge in advanced photovoltaics and other clean tech fields.
If Cemtrex’s new R&D effort pans out, industrial facilities all over the world will be churning out graphene while reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.
In countries with cap and trade, these facilities will also be earning carbon credits for their parent companies.
Cemtrex already seems to be one jump ahead of the game. Last year the company recently let out word that is in discussions to dive into the solar market in India, which already has a carbon incentive system in place.
India also has big plans for ramping up its solar industry, so stay tuned.
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Image: via US Department of Energy.
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