Coal combustion products produced from coal-fired power stations represent useful mineral sources of raw materials for a range of applications and products. Annually the Ash Development Association of Australia (ADAA) collects the production, sales and and utilisation statistics for coal combustion products (CCPs) and publishes an Annual Production and Utilisation Survey Report.

Methodology

Annually members and non-members are invited to complete a survey for CCPs produced, sold and stored for the nominated reporting period. Information provided by members and non-members is collated, compared with other data sources, for verification purposes, and aggregated into national data set. No disaggrated (e.g State) data is published. The importation and exporting of CCPs are included using HS tarrif code data from ABS, however sources (regions) and destinations (locations) are not identified.

For members the information provides our industry with a map of production trends with a focus on where ‘effective utilisation’ of CCPs is occurring.

Some important terms

‘Effective utilisation’ is the sale or utilisation of CCPs as recoverable mineral resources into a value added construction application that provides both commercial returns [revenue] return on investment or an economic return [avoided expense], and use is consistent with the criteria of ecologically sustainable development (EDS) principles.

The utilisation of CCPs in a variety of both high and low value add products helps to conserve natural resources such as sands and gravels. This reduces the environmental impact that would otherwise be caused by mining these natural resources. In addition, the need to construct additional storage facilities at the power stations can be deferred or even eliminated.

Annual Production and Utilisation Survey Report: 2024  – Summary

The beneficial use of coal combustion products (CCPs) during 2024 resulted in 6.55 million tonnes or 64% being beneficially used, resulting in the conservation of energy, finite natural resources, and the reduction of carbon emissions through the recovery of CCPs as mineral by-product resources.

The survey results for CCPs production and end uses for the period January to December 2024, discussed in this report, are shown in Table 1. Over the survey period, more than 70 million tonnes of thermal coal were consumed to generate vital energy to support the Australian economy. Some 10 million tonnes of all CCPs were produced, with 64% effectively utilised1 in various civil and construction applications across Australia.

Total CCPs produced were similar to the previous reporting period, with the longer-term trend to decrease as planned closures out to 2050 come into effect. This decline is consistent with ongoing closures of coal-fired power stations and reduced demand for thermal coal as an energy source, coupled with ongoing energy reforms, renewable energy targets (RET) and federal and state government agendas for electricity over the past several years.

[1] “Effective utilisation” is the sale or utilisation of recoverable mineral resources into a value added construction application that provides both commercial returns [revenue] return on investment or an economic profit [avoided expense], and use is consistent with the criteria of ecologically sustainable development (EDS) principles.

To download the report click on the cover or link. Previously published reports are replaced with the current period. Past reports are avaliable on request, but note the current report also includes a 5 year summary.

For further technical literature on CCPs visit our free online library.