Coal - does it figure in your future ?

[percy toboggan]

I'm about to make - for me - a sizeable investment into the future of the coal industry in Britain.

Do you have a view on coal, whatever your age and memories of the days when it was King. For King Coal it was, and in my opinion might well rise like a phoenix from the er...ashes...to become at least an Earldom. or even a Prince once more.

Does coal figure on your radar...do you ever giv eit a seconds thought?
I'm merely posing the question to gauge general interest or awareness, as I feel most people are in the dark when it comes to the possibilities of a coal fired future.

[teenybash]

Coal figures in my past, present and future..............I use a solid fuel cooker on which everything is cooked and the oven used frequently for baking,,,,,,,,,,,,,central heating and all the house hotwater needs are supplied by my dark brown lady in the kitchen. Powercuts are never a worry and the house is toasting in all weathers.
I have a cast iron stove in the sitting room....which burns literally anything, though I prefer wood as coal can make the room simply too hot.
Very economical, warm and also provides that lovely welcoming glow that immediately transport everyone back to childhood day and memories.
As to my carbon footprint........I honestly believe it is industry who needs to look at their practices and using coal on a domestic level will make very little difference to global warming......;)

[mr do dar]

I would have coal in my house tomorrow . we had a coal fire all the way through my childhood and when i got my first house it had a coal fire and i loved it . we have oil in this house and its poor compaired to coal . i think a coal fire helps put a heart into a family home .

[EDDIE]

when ever i here the word coalfire it always reminds me of my grandad in the eightys he must have da the warmest sitting room in thurso and cost him nothing he used to go about collecting used and scrap wood from were ever he could find it but he had loads holes in his carpet with the sparks to be honest about coal is not much of an option either we have start using reusable energy

[Kevin Milkins]

Before you make a sizable investment in interest of the coal industry in Britain Perce you might need reminding that very little of the coal used in this country ,comes from Britain.
The coal that we get comes from China.
Mrs Thatcher ,( bless her ) had her infamous battle with the unions that ended with the ruination of the coal industry in the UK.
As an ex-coal miner I can tell you that the reserves of coal in the UK are vast ,the only problem now is we have lost many of the skills needed to get it and the investment needed to mine it would be vast.
The only comfort we can take is we know it is there if we need it.

[Errogie]

The advantage any coal, wood or peat fired system has is that it pulls air into a room and then expells it through the chimmney which is why a coal fire used to be recommended for an invalid's room.
Inadequate ventilation causes everything from condensation to asthma so there are a lot of advantages to a coal system.

Alex Sutherland

[northener]

The advantage any coal, wood or peat fired system has is that it pulls air into a room and then expells it through the chimmney which is why a coal fire used to be recommended for an invalid's room.
Inadequate ventilation causes everything from condensation to asthma so there are a lot of advantages to a coal system.

Alex Sutherland

And the disadvantage is that you poison every poor sod on the planet.

[Kevin Milkins]

And the disadvantage is that you poison every poor sod on the planet.

I think whatever fuel you use ,I would guess the production of it causes pollution at the point of production.
I remember sitting on the mountain side in South Wales as a child and looking down on the valley below. It resembled the Klondike. Instead of the the smoke and grime being in the valleys now its all in China as you will see when the olympics start. As a planet I would have thought it mattered not who was burning the hole in the ozone.:confused

[percy toboggan]

Before you make a sizable investment in interest of the coal industry in Britain Perce you might need reminding that very little of the coal used in this country ,comes from Britain.
The coal that we get comes from China.
Mrs Thatcher ,( bless her ) had her infamous battle with the unions that ended with the ruination of the coal industry in the UK.
As an ex-coal miner I can tell you that the reserves of coal in the UK are vast ,the only problem now is we have lost many of the skills needed to get it and the investment needed to mine it would be vast.
The only comfort we can take is we know it is there if we need it.

I think I might be a bit better informed than you Kevin - no offence. 'We' still produce about ten per cent of the coal for our power stations.
But it's not 'mining' the stuff that will count in the future...more technological advancement which will mean men do not have to go underground anymore in numbers, even though we'll feel the benefits of deep mined coal. I'd not want to make money off their bent backs.
I'd no idea you were an ex-miner....a noble breed . We have about 300 years worth of coal underneath us and mark my words...75% of it will have been used by the end of the 23rd century.

[mama2]

I had coal fire in my home all through my childhood and when I got my 1st home it was solid fuel central heating. I used to curse the thing - ashes everyday, the puff of stoor as you opened the door, the mess on the floor!! I have oil in my home now and I would have coal back in a flash, it's cheaper for 1 and with the solid fuel you had heat 24hrs a day which was a dream when you were getting up in the middle of the night in the dead of winter with the babies. Coal all the way for me xx

[percy toboggan]

Technological advances and 'carboncapture' should soon see coal back in the mainstream.
As new coal fired power stations have almost zero emissions because the carbon is removed from the coal while it's still in the ground.This noxious gases will be stored for millions of years in those large empty caverns under the North Sea, from which oil was extracted. Much of what remains will be 'gassified' into Hydrogen and will power generators the length of Britain....hopefully providing up to 30% of future needs with a slightly higher contribution from a re-energised Nuclear industry without which we cannot prosper. The rest might come from renewables like wind and wave.

Coal has a future. The science is unfathomable to me, the reality isn't. No country can ignore such a large resource at a time when Natural resources are concentrated in the hands of unpredictable 'suppliers' like Russia.