car usage question - early 1970s

[nkalanaga]

Spades:  Thank you!  I didn't know CA even had coal.

[MK]

They probably label each lump saying it's cancer causing in the State of California.   

[Maletrain]

The former Kaiser Permanente Quarry/Lehigh Southwest Cement Company near Cupertino, CA ... [t]ried pellets made from shredded tires but went back to coal.

They probably label each lump saying it's cancer causing in the State of California.   

It boggles my mind that California ever had an industry that burned old tires for fuel!!! 

[nkalanaga]

Old tires actually make good fuel for a cement plant.  One of the common ingredients of Portland cement is "blast furnace slag", for the small amounts of iron left in it.  Most tires today have steel belts, which burn right along with the rubber, providing the iron without needing the slag.

[Spades]

https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2019-12/declining_reliance_coal_ada.pdf

As of 2017 there were 4 solely Coal Fired Power Plants and 8 Power Plants with at least some Coal Fired Units.  I think I got that right.  The Port of LA and Richmond have coal export terminals.