In this Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016 photo, Cynthia Furse, Associate Vice President for Research and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Utah, holds a chunk of coal and a carbon-fiber prosthetic leg to illustrate the carbon-friendly methods of turning coal-derived pitch into carbon-fiber composite material. Engineers from the University of Utah are launching a $1.6 million project to research cost-effective ways to help revitalize coal communities threatened by a decline in production and turning coal into carbon-fiber with less impact on the environment is being championed as a viable solution. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)