Reliable and Consistent Supply

The Problem

  • The Western US is facing supply shortages of SCMs.
  • The primary SCM is fly ash, a residual from coal-burning power plants. Fly ash availability has diminished as coal plants close or convert to natural gas. Significant additional closures and conversions are scheduled, creating a bigger deficit in an already constrained market.

The Result

  • Concrete producers are facing contract delivery issues, higher cost, capacity limits, and variable quality which results in inferior concrete.

The Solution

  • The entire industry acknowledges an additional and imminent replacement SCM is needed. The clear front runner is Geofortis’ natural pozzolans which can be used as a replacement of fly ash or used in addition to fly ash in concrete mixes.
Caltrans LogoCaltrans Logo

"Fly Ash Current and Future Supply"

“To mitigate the effects of a fly ash shortage, the construction industry has the option to use other SCMs and admixtures allowed by Caltrans Standard Specifications.” . . .  “One of the primary obstacles to replacing fly ash is the large volume that would be required to fill a supply shortfall. Based on expert industry representatives and data available from USGS, natural pozzolans have the greatest single potential supply volume.” CalTrans Fly Ash Current and Future Supply, 2016

Mapped: The world’s coal power plants

Carbon Brief, May 2018

Globally, 200GW of coal power generation has closed due to a wave of retirements across the EU and US. Another 170GW is set to retire by 2030 and 13 of the world’s 77 coal-powered countries plan a total phaseout.
​​​​​​​
Meanwhile, electricity generated from coal peaked in 2014, so the expanding fleet is running fewer hours than ever. This erodes coal’s bottom line, as does competition from gas and renewables.