Wv going 'GREEN..its been there for years!

[lovethetruth]

Does anyone know what NFS and CSX charge to move one whole unit train?

[harborlady]

lovethetruth do the math on barges too. They float regularly down the kanawha river through charleston. I gather they have to travel through lock systems as well but I've never seen that first hand.

Hotels are full of ancillary service workers keeping the mines going. The economy in WV is very much dependent upon coal and until other economic means take root there's no getting around this fact of life. Considering the shambles wall street has made of main street america I'm thinking even other economic means modeled elsewhere wouldn't be as reliable as coal. 50billion Madroff ponzi scheme spreading like wildfire around the globe is more than most GDP's of entire nations.

For instance, decreased auto sales means the small toyota factory in our state will likely see some layoffs if things don't pick up quickly enough. Met a GM salesman who's switching to another competitors job to get ahead of any pink slips looming in the wind. He's been with GM dealership for about 20yrs. Change has to come to us all eventually but muscling coal out isn't going to work for anyone.

[snorpus]

The average railroad freight rate in 2007 was about 4 cents per ton-mile (1 ton moved 1 mile). Modern hopper cars are 100 Tons (not sure if that's gross or net, but I'll assume net), so it costs about $4 to move one car (100T cpy) one mile.

However, railroads are deregulated, and the rate for coal is lower than average. In 2007, while coal was 44 percent of the railroad ton-miles, it was only 21 percent of railroad revenue. So as a first guess, figure on $2 per car-mile (2c/ton-mile). Coal-to-gasoline plants are projected to be mine-mouth or close to it, to minimize transportation costs.

Another approximation that might be useful in this discussion. One ton of coal is equivalent to about 3 barrels of crude oil, in terms of hydrocarbon content.

It is estimated that, currently, gasoline from coal is competitive with $35-40/bbl crude.

http://www.aar.org/PubCommon/Documen...y/Overview.pdf

http://www.nma.org/pdf/liquid_coal_fuels_100505.pdf