Commercial value of ash

[skaa he/him]

For once I'll post something unrelated to magical theory. :-) We know that falling ash was something people dealt with on a daily basis during the Lord Ruler's reign. We see skaa always having to clear up the streets and canals free from the stuff. While most people would see ash as a source of annoyance, the more enterprising of Scadrians must have realized that it was a possible source of profit.

 

I did a quick Google search for the various uses of volcaninc ash and found the following:

• construction materials (e.g. ingredient for a kind of cement)
• abrasives (e.g. in hand soap)
• soil "conditioner"
• ceramics

Those are some of the uses of volcanic ash here on Earth. If you were a businessman on Scadrial during the Final Empire, how would you commercialize the continuous ash fall in your surroundings?

[Mistdork she/her]

The biggest problem here is supply, there's so much of it and I wouldn't be surprised if making ash soap (etc) were a thing taught to young (mostly non-skaa) women. In some locals, at least. Though if I were an Industrialist, I'd just make a factory and use street skaa to make these products for cheap, and since there's a lot skaa I don't need to care about losing them, I can just get more (no, I don't really think this is wise nor do I believe it's the best way to run a business...) But ash as a resource for goods requires human capital, or...skaa...

[Green Hoodie Mistborn he/him]

It's harder to monetize something that is available everywhere like air... 

 

If you could come up with a way to make building materials out of the ash on Scadrial though you could probably set up some vertical integration where you managed the supply of both building materials and the construction company. Keep your construction company costs low to outbid other competitors. 

 

Probably just end up build the low end tenements that the skaa themselves live in though. Ash building materials probably wouldn't be in high demand on a noble mansion construction project. 

[MistLord he/him]

I'd imagine such implementation would be fairly well used in the usage of second-rate materials. Not so sure about the entrepreneurial approach that you mentioned for the reasons as everyone else however... 

[skaa he/him]

Probably just end up build the low end tenements that the skaa themselves live in though. Ash building materials probably wouldn't be in high demand on a noble mansion construction project. 

 

I'd imagine such implementation would be fairly well used in the usage of second-rate materials. Not so sure about the entrepreneurial approach that you mentioned for the reasons as everyone else however... 

 

You're both assuming that volcanic ash-based cement is "second-rate", when it has been used by the ancient Egyptians in the construction of the pyramids of Giza, by the ancient Romans in the construction of their famous aqueducts and such buildings as the Colosseum and the Pantheon, among others. In fact, mixing volcanic ash with cement is still done today due to the increased durability it provides.

 

We can't assume that most Scadrian builders knew how to utilize volcanic ash in order to most effectively bring out its advantages. The first few people to discover a good method could keep the knowledge a trade secret. They could market their product as a more durable alternative to their competitors' cement, selling it at a premium, without having to divulge the fact that half of its composition came from the ash falling on their heads at that very moment. And even if the secret does come out, they still have a very cheap method for making good concrete. They could simply innovate in other ways to keep the prices up.

 

And that's just one possible commercial application of ash.

 

(Hmmm... This topic isn't generating the kind of discussion I was hoping for. In hindsight, ash is a boring subject that most people probably wouldn't bother researching about. I think it's better if I stick to magic theory from now on. )

Edited April 9, 2014 by skaa