Fly ash, which has become a matter of concern for the local administration and the State Government after the Khasala fly ash bund collapse in Koradi, has tremendous scope in the extraction of Rare Earth Elements (REE), claimed Dr Upendra Singh, Principal Scientist, Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC), Nagpur, on Thursday.

While interacting with ‘The Hitavada’, Dr Singh, who has the expertise in the field of reuse of aluminium waste, red mud and coal-based fly ash, said, “Government of India has allowed use of coal-based fly ash in cement industry, construction industry and brick kilns in reuse of the waste. But fly ash contains REE like Scandium, Lanthanu, Yttrium, etc., which should be extracted to cater the demand of defence, aerospace and electronics industries.”

REEs are an essential for the component of more than 200 consumer products, including mobile phones, computer hard drives, electric and hybrid vehicles, semiconductors, flatscreen TVs and monitors, and high-end electronics.

According to US Geological Survey for the year 2020, China has the largest 4.40 crore MT rare earth element reserve, followed by Vietnam (2.20 crore MT), Brazil (2.10 crore MT), Russia (1.20 crore MT) and India (69 lakh MT).

“Fly ash also contains Silica and Alumina. Silica is needed in semiconductor and rubber industries. JNARDDC is working on fly ash project to process high purity Silica of 99.99% from it for both industries,” said Dr Singh.

The senior scientist further added, “NITI Aayog is working on finding more alternate use of fly ash to reduce the burden of legacy fly ash.”

“Today, India is catering its energy demand from coal-based TPS. Battery-run vehicles also need electricity, which we are getting through coal. If India is not able to explore and produce REE, it will have to depend on a handful of countries, including China, to power its energy transition plans to electric vehicles,” said Dr Singh.