How are you going to deal with the doubled cost of heating this winter? (Healy: sales, buying)

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by gallon

Is coal generally available up there? I know it is mined in the Alaska range. Could be a bridge solution until the gas distribution line is finished.

Alaska has some of the largest coal deposits in the interior region of the State. However, a lot of villages are already set-up to be heated by furnaces boilers (as well as power plants) that run on heating fuel. We have several power plants in Fairbanks and vicinity that run on coal, however. But most homes are heated by boilers and furnaces.

[gallon]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

Alaska has some of the largest coal deposits in the interior region of the State. However, a lot of villages are already set-up to be heated by furnaces boilers (as well as power plants) that run on heating fuel. We have several power plants in Fairbanks and vicinity that run on coal, however. But most homes are heated by boilers and furnaces.

Well, if people have wood burning stoves or can improvise, can coal be an emergency solution?
Can the mine ramp up its operation a little. Distribution would need to be worked out also.

It is not just this winter. It could also happen as a national security event. Suppose the bad guys decide to shut down the Saudis oil terminal.

[Grannysroost]

I think you need a special burner to use the coal. We used coal in a wood burner many years back in MN, and it was the most awful smelling crap, not sure what kind of coal... Up here on the beach in Ninilchik, man guy's brother has a special burner he gets that burns either coal or wood. They have massive chunks of coal that will wash up on the beach - like a giant rock, that they haul up closer and then chip off with an axe or whatever to put in a bucket and take in to burn. What they get doesn't stink like the crap we had in MN. I know if not this year, next year we are going to have a wood burner as backup for the gas boiler. Our house is small enough a big fire in a stove would have us with the doors and windows open

[gallon]

Originally Posted by Grannysroost

I think you need a special burner to use the coal. We used coal in a wood burner many years back in MN, and it was the most awful smelling crap, not sure what kind of coal... Up here on the beach in Ninilchik, man guy's brother has a special burner he gets that burns either coal or wood. They have massive chunks of coal that will wash up on the beach - like a giant rock, that they haul up closer and then chip off with an axe or whatever to put in a bucket and take in to burn. What they get doesn't stink like the crap we had in MN. I know if not this year, next year we are going to have a wood burner as backup for the gas boiler. Our house is small enough a big fire in a stove would have us with the doors and windows open

Yep, coal has a lot of mineral content, what you are smelling likely has sulfur content. All that foulness is why we are an oil based civilization and not a coal based one. If we still burned so much coal we would look more like Beijing now. I think the USA has enough coal reserves for another 300 years or so at present rates of energy consumption. Unpleasant stuff to burn directly, but it can readily be converted to clean oil and to ethanol and methanol.

Coal also burns hotter than wood, which is bad for ordinary woodburner stoves. But if you mortar up some bricks or stones to serve as a coal burner stove, that might be workable in an emergency. Don't mind me, I'm just concerned about the coming Alaska winter.

[warptman]

There is no coal in bush Alaska. Most people out here have wood stove as back ups and some houses only have wood stoves. It isn't like in the city where you can call someone up and have the wood delivered to your house. People go out and get wood themselves with snowmobiles out here. Gas as we speak is $5.97 a gallon out here and I'm sure it will go higher this fall after the last barge fills the tanks. So going out on your own to get wood you have to buy gas for the machines. Keeping in mind, the villages out here don't have pine trees to burn that are close to them, they travel for a couple hundred miles round trip, especially if you're from coastal Alaska and all the wood is farther upriver.

[gallon]

Originally Posted by warptman

There is no coal in bush Alaska. Most people out here have wood stove as back ups and some houses only have wood stoves. It isn't like in the city where you can call someone up and have the wood delivered to your house. People go out and get wood themselves with snowmobiles out here. Gas as we speak is $5.97 a gallon out here and I'm sure it will go higher this fall after the last barge fills the tanks. So going out on your own to get wood you have to buy gas for the machines. Keeping in mind, the villages out here don't have pine trees to burn that are close to them, they travel for a couple hundred miles round trip, especially if you're from coastal Alaska and all the wood if farther upriver.

Thank you for your info.

Understood that there is no coal out there. Also understand about the availability of firewood. BTW I saw Bethel on the show "Tougher in Alaska." Was impressed by the starkness and the winter beauty. Also all the citizens seemed to be so genuine.

[Grannysroost]

Warpt - $5.97???? yuk, we dropped down to 4.64 here and I laughed today Can't imagine what the people there are going to do, especially if don't have a regular paycheck. It's not only gas, heating, but food, medicine, whatever esle that has to be sent in and goes up due to shipping costs, gas, fuel, vicious circle....

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by gallon

Well, if people have wood burning stoves or can improvise, can coal be an emergency solution?

A coal stove can burn wood in an emergency, if done with care. A wood stove generally cannot handle the extremely heat the coal generates. The firebox needs a thicker grate and has to be lined with fire brick. On the other hand, the smoke stack for wood has to be able to handle a chimney fire, while for coal it doesn't. Typically wood needs a triple wall chimney.

The effect is, if the stack is designed for wood and the firebox is designed for coal, anything can be burned!

Can the mine ramp up its operation a little. Distribution would need to be worked out also.

That hits to nail on the head. There are many deposits of coal around Alaska. I think the Usibelli mine near Healy is the only producing one of any size though. They ship coal to Fairbanks by rail.

Barrow, during the 40's and 50's, used coal from a mine on the Meade River (at what is now the village of Atqasuk) 60 miles south of Barrow. Coal was brought to Barrow by cat train during the winter months. In many other locations around Alaska there are coal deposits that can be used by locals, but no transportation system is available to move it any particular distance. In some places along the Arctic Coast, and also around Homer and probably others, there are coal deposit along public beaches which allows just anyone to go load up whatever they want. But that is small stuff compared to what would be required to replace oil in most of Alaska.

[SuValley]

As it happens, I grew up at Usibelli Coal Mine Great folks and a wonderful place to raise a family actually.

I recall my father and Joe Sr getting into a discussion about the amount of coal deposits recoverable there on mine lands. IIRC, the quoted number of years of accessible deposits was somewhere in the 600 year range, for Alaska-even with growing population.

I am pretty sure (need to check my facts) that Usibelli has taken over part of the Sutton mine-is that Wishbone?? And they are hoping to use the coal as part of the supply for a new gasification plant in south central.

I just wonder at our representatives who cannot see beyond political expediency to the future when Cook Inlet begins a serious decline and Anchorage is unable to stay warm. Maybe then, they will think about the future?

We have a LOT of untapped energy sources here. Solar. Wind. Hydro. Geothermal. Tidal. Coal. And of course, the big twins-oil and gas.

I have given some serious thought to my next house, should I get lucky enough to find 100 acres someplace-and I will persue passive solar heating, and other innovative construction methods to reduce energy needs. Just as soon as the nuclear battery is readily available, haha (And oh yes, those are coming, within a decade)

[RayinAK]

Because of the high price of oil, fuels, etc., everything costs a lot more. For example, I just bought four to five 8' x 10' tarps at Walmart and paid around $46.00. A year ago I would have paid half of that amount for the same tarps.

Folks planning to move to Alaska better think and plan it carefully, because of the high cost of living up here.