On Apr 12, 1:30=A0pm, jerry <GeraldCNew...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 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. =A0I 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. =A0I
> am going there and see if the coal is still available. =A0As far as I
> know no one has claimed it or is guarding it. =A0I would hope that our
> good Governor would make free coal available to anyone that wants to
> go get it. =A0There is a coal belt that stretches from Healy to Fort
> Greely just north of the Alaska Range. =A0It 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.
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