Building Brick from Methane 

Problem Number One: Reservoirs accumulate sediment until they are no longer capable of water storage. Problem Number Two: Abandoned coal mines emit copious amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas significantly more potent than CO2. Seeing a potential synergy in attacking the two problems at once, Christopher Caskey founded Delta Brick and Climate Company in 2018 in Montrose, Colorado. 

Caskey had learned about the rogue methane leaking from closed mines, and he wanted to build a company around methane mitigation. “I was volunteering for a local conservation nonprofit, and they were engaged on the methane issue,” he says. “How do we capture methane to keep it out of the atmosphere? But also, can we use it?” The answer came in the form of clayey sediment dredged from the Paonia Reservoir in western Colorado. “I was like, ‘Wait a second. This is clay, and I know that clay plus heat [potentially produced using methane as fuel] equals ceramics,’” Caskey says. “Tile and brick are pretty tolerant as materials, and you can use a lot of different types of clay to make it work. We’re really focused on tile, because that’s what the people want.” 

To this end, Delta Brick launched a brand, Particular Tile, in 2022, using reservoir sediment to make terracotta tiles in a variety of shapes and glazes. The sediment is formed into tiles and essentially baked in a kiln that’s heated with methane (natural gas) to eliminate the moisture and solidify the tile.The company’s kilns are currently located in Montrose and use natural gas from the local utility, but the plan is to move them closer to the source of the methane. That’s exactly why Delta Brick bought the shuttered Bowie No. 1 coal mine near Paonia in late 2023. “We bought 117 acres of where this mine was, and it’s got a bunch of methane leaking out of it, so we’re putting in a methane capture facility.”

Methane’s environmental numbers are staggering: On a 20-year time horizon, the gas is 86 times worse than CO2 from a global warming perspective. Over 100 years, it’s 25 times worse than CO2. “Methane does not last forever in the atmosphere, whereas CO2 is basically permanent,” Caskey says.

The Bowie No. 1 is projected to emit 500 million cubic feet of methane over 10 years. “That’s a lot of methane,” says Caskey. The mitigation of this volume of gas “is like taking 12,000 cars off the road, or planting 55,000 acres of forest.” In October of 2024, a temporary system of tarps and pipes intentionally destroyed more than 12 tons of methane to prevent it from dissipating into the atmosphere. “We’ll probably move a tile kiln up there at some point this winter and do some tests on firing with the gas,” says Caskey, noting that different types of fuel burn differently, which can affect the way a kiln works. “Anytime you change anything with ceramics, the results [in terms of tiles and bricks] can be totally different.”

Caskey hopes that the idea of using rogue methane might catch on at other shuttered mines. With funding from the Department of Energy and the Colorado Energy Office, Delta Brick is developing “a playbook for other communities,” Caskey says. The Bowie No. 1 is serving as a pilot to prove the concept. “What can we do with this energy? And what can we do with this land that would benefit the community?” Caskey says.  Early ideas for the methane include heat for homes, greenhouses, and other structures, while the site could accommodate mountain bike trails and/or a small solar farm.

Methane mitigation at the Bowie No. 1 will also create about 500 gallons of water a day by way of chemical reaction, he notes. Burning methane results in CO2 and water. “We’re going to use that for wildlife habitat improvement because the mine is on a pretty south-facing hillside that is a high-quality deer and elk winter range, but to get water, they have to cross the highway and get to the river.”