By Chalres Boothe, Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — A Bluefield business that focuses on the use of coal in developing building materials is receiving almost $3 million in funding.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., made the announcement last week during a visit from two U.S. Cabinet members to the state: U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.
The business is X-Mat Carbon Core Composites, located in the Commercialization Station on Bluefield Avenue, and the Florida-based company and partners “will construct a prototype structure to test coal-derived building materials including roof tiles, siding panels, bricks, and blocks. The project will produce a detailed design for a carbon-based building and update the techno-economic analysis to improve the maturity of the technology as it moves closer to a demonstration phase.”
The (Department of Energy) DOE funding is more than $2.2 million with other funding about $700,000. This project was one of many around the state receiving grants from the more than $210 million in funding available to West Virginia this year through the bipartisan infrastructure bill…
