Alpha Natural Resources, a major coal supplier has made a strategic equity investment in Ceratech, a Virginia-based producer of green cement, which reduces CO2 emissions and landfill requirements from the cement manufacturing method. The green cement uses 95 per cent of waste fly ash, a by-product of coal combustion, from electric utilities. The company’s innovative technology facilitates the recycling of fly ash. About 42 million tonne of ash produced per year is dumped in a landfill. By producing one tonne of green cement, the company eliminates nearly 1,800 lbs of landfill waste. Ceratech’s green cement is an ideal substitute for portland cement in terms of reliability and strength. It fulfills the requirement of green construction regulations, especially the LEED certification conditions of the US Green Building Council, as no other cement in the market contains over 90 per cent of fly ash.