Topic: WTB: Anthracite coal... (Read 483 times)

I was thinking that much of what is going on in the world, I've been thinking about energy security for my family.  I could, and probably will, buy a couple sealed cans of kerosene; but I know that I can do better than that.  I was thinking about heating my home.  In my area, natural gas is the cheapest method of home heat, and the most common.  It's also second only to electricity in it's dependency on infrastructure for it's ongoing availablity.  There is also much in the way of propane and firewood heating in my area, but storing up propane requires buying or leasing tanks.  Wood is ideal, being both locally available and renewable.  It does have one downside though, as it would eventually rot should nothing of consequence occur in the near term.  Kentucky coal is an option, but it's of the bitumous variety, and thus it's incrediblely smokey and messy.  So I'm considering buying a truck-bed full of anthracite coal, because I can just dump that out by the toolshed and it would literally never degrade.  Perhaps I'd buy a pallet load of 40 lb bags instead.

The problem is that anthracite is only mined in upstate Pennsylvania, which is quite a shipping cost.  It's also the only reason that anthracite isn't a common heating fuel in Kentucky, as the shipping costs make anthracite economicly unviable compared to natural gas around here.  In order to compete with natural gas from the local power company, a full ton of coal would have to cost about $180 delivered.  I wouldn't expect anything like that, but Lehman's would charge me twice that before shipping costs. (https://www.lehmans.com/p-2316-anthracite-coal.aspx)

I'm wondering if there are any bitcoiners from upstate Pennsylvania who might be planning a trip South this summer, who might be willing to stop in Louisville, Kentucky with as many 40 lb bags of anthracite as they were able to bring with them.