Joined: Apr 28, 2005 Posts: 3655 Location: West shore Lake Eire, MI, USA
Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 6:40 am Post subject: Alaskans turning to coal for heating!
Here are a few quotes from an alaska newsgroup I belong too.
Jan Flora wrote:
In article
<f0bac459-d089-4622-a8b5-5b03d274ef30@w5g2000prd.googlegroups.com>,
jerry <GeraldCNewton@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Coal is available in North Pole and at the Healy Mine. It may be a
> little dirty, but for the savings we have little choice. But do not
> burn coal in a wood stove because it will melt the steel.
Coal is available for free on the beaches around Homer. It's a soft
grade, but it'll burn. Sure stinks!
With the price of heating oil well over $4/gallon now, loads of folks
have gone back to burning wood & coal here. We have commercial coal
pickers again. Hadn't seen any for about ten years. Guys take their old
beater pickups on the beach at low tide and gather coal to sell. It's a
subsistence living, but it can get you through the thin times.
Snow in the forecast tonight.
Jan
Gerald Newton wrote:
On Apr 12, 1:30 pm, jerry <GeraldCNew...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> No. 1 stove oil is required for heating fuel by many and the price has
> gone out of sight with no end in sight. I know a place near the
> Alaska Range not so very far from here where there is a coal
> outcropping and one can go there in a 4 wheel drive or 4-wheeler. I
> am going there and see if the coal is still available. As far as I
> know no one has claimed it or is guarding it. I would hope that our
> good Governor would make free coal available to anyone that wants to
> go get it. There is a coal belt that stretches from Healy to Fort
> Greely just north of the Alaska Range. It now makes sense to switch
> and many in the Interior of Alaska are already switching from fuel oil
> to wood or coal.
According to the local coal supplier ( tel: 488-8550) sorted coal is
at $110 a ton (2000 lbs) in North Pole. The coal per BTU cost is
about 25 percent that of fuel oil. Coal can be purchased at the
Usibelli coal mine for $60 a ton. Not counting the cost of hauling
the coal that would put coal at about 15 percent of the cost of fuel
oil. Also, there are many people converting to coal at this time, and
the number is expected to grow. Years ago many people burned coal in
Fairbanks and we still have 7 coal fired power plants, two at Healy
(but only one is used), one at Clear AFB, one at the U of A, one at
Fairbanks, one at Ft. Wainwright, and one at Eielson AFB. There is
one new fuel oil fired power plant at North Pole which appears to be a
mistake although they might be using bunker oil which is much less
expensive.
When the people in oil rich states are turning back to coal I get a real sense of forboding for the rest of us. _________________ Oxygen: - An intensely habit-forming accumulative toxic substance. As little
as one breath is known to produce a life-long addiction to the gas, which addiction invariably ends in death.--Isaac Asimov
Joined: Oct 15, 2004 Posts: 2196 Location: Arkansas
Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:42 am Post subject: Re: Alaskans turning to coal for heating!
Of course people will go back to coal. That's what the Hirsch report predicted, that's what the Chinese are doing, and, as this article points out, even the "green" Americans will start burning coal if it will save the green in their wallet.
Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 9:55 pm Post subject: Re: Alaskans turning to coal for heating!
Ever seen those fantasy movies where there's a society that has a "bizarre combination" of technologies. For example they have sailing ships but also flying vehicles.
We have cell phones with internet access, 1.6 gigawatt nuclear power reactors, and cars with more computer power then space rockets built 35 years before
but....
We have people using 19th century Victorian technology to stay warm and cook their food.
Joined: Apr 12, 2007 Posts: 1172 Location: Central NC
Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 7:10 am Post subject: Re: Alaskans turning to coal for heating!
cube wrote:
Ever seen those fantasy movies where there's a society that has a "bizarre combination" of technologies. For example they have sailing ships but also flying vehicles.
We have cell phones with internet access, 1.6 gigawatt nuclear power reactors, and cars with more computer power then space rockets built 35 years before
but....
We have people using 19th century Victorian technology to stay warm and cook their food.
Joined: Apr 28, 2005 Posts: 3655 Location: West shore Lake Eire, MI, USA
Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 8:04 am Post subject: Re: Alaskans turning to coal for heating!
Homesteader wrote:
cube wrote:
Ever seen those fantasy movies where there's a society that has a "bizarre combination" of technologies. For example they have sailing ships but also flying vehicles.
We have cell phones with internet access, 1.6 gigawatt nuclear power reactors, and cars with more computer power then space rockets built 35 years before
but....
We have people using 19th century Victorian technology to stay warm and cook their food.
weird???
misallocation of resources.
I disagree on this one. If you are in an isolated house, or a small village of 500 people it might very well be a better allocation of resources to haul in coal than it would be to install long distance electric service lines, city water, natural gas supply lines and so on. Infrastructure costs a lot to install and maintain, by staying semi-independent those costs can be avoided to a large extent. _________________ Oxygen: - An intensely habit-forming accumulative toxic substance. As little
as one breath is known to produce a life-long addiction to the gas, which addiction invariably ends in death.--Isaac Asimov
Joined: Sep 29, 2004 Posts: 2330 Location: Pennsylvania, USA
Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 9:43 am Post subject: Re: Alaskans turning to coal for heating!
I expect to see a similar move where I live because we have very high grade anthracite to burn, which is the standard type of coal that most people used to use for home heating. It's often called "smokeless" coal because little or no visible smoke is produced when it burns. The exhaust gas is almost pure CO2, which can be dangerous unless you keep the fire strong. A smoldering coal fire can cause CO2 to accumulate in the basement, which can kill you. The problem is that CO2 is heavy and if the velocity of the exhaust gas is very low, it will litterally get half way up the chiminey, cool down and drop back down the chiminey. Of course, people somehow dealt with that before oil when coal was the defacto standard for home heating. There are still a couple outfits that deliver to homes around here. The first ton is about $150 and aditional tons are around $60, I believe. I know a guy where I work who says he heats his house for $250/year with it.
Coal is a pain though, especially in late fall and early spring. It's great if you need A LOT of heat. It burns so hot, you can turn your house into a sauna in the middle of winter if you like. However, when you just need a little bit of heat, it's not practical. I foresee a lot of people using a coal stove as a suplimental heat source in most areas and a primary heat source in really cold areas, like Alaska. _________________ "That's the problem with mercy, kid... It just ain't professional" - Fast Eddie, The Color of Money
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