[TheForge] several questions and thoughts

[debmiller at fuse.net]

Terry,

Good thoughts. I actually expect the coal situation to get worse, much worse.
In one of my "day jobs" I am the Superintendent of Utilities for the University of Cincinnati. We have two utility plants, including one with two coal fired boilers.

These are spreader stoker boilers using low sulfur coal. Over the past three years are price for coal has gone from $35/ton to $109/ton. Also our suppliers used to be willing to sign long term supply contracts, at least in the year to 3 year range. Now we are essentially on a month to month pricing scheme. 

We are told much of the new coal demand is actually from China. 
In addition to buying up all the scrap metal they can find, it seems like the Chinese Industrial engine is sucking up as much coal, timber and other natural resources as possible, too.

It seems like very soon tme US may meet the traditional description of a third world nation..........Exporting raw materials and buying finished goods.

I just recently read about Chinese automobiles that are targetted to hit the US market in 2007. You can buy a 4 door sedan for under $4000. Of course after all the US production jobs are shipped overseas, that's all that anyone will be able to afford......

Ray Miller
Cincinnati


---- "terry l. ridder" <terrylr at blauedonau.com> wrote: 
> hello;
> 
> with all the news about coal mine accidents, the renewed interest in
> using coal, and the president's statement concerning ending america's
> addiction to oil, i was thinking about the several things.
> 
> is coal becoming easier to obtain? i have not seen the availibility of
> coal change in my area. it is still hard to find and when you do find it
> it is expensive. what have others observed?
> 
> of the known metal finishes that are commonly used in blacksmithing and
> metal work in general which impact the environment the least and do not
> depend on either domestic or foreign oil to obtain?
> 
> given the common use of scrap metal amongst blacksmiths and the numerous
> questions that have appeared over the years in theforge mailing list as
> to what alloy a certain piece of scrap may or may not be. would there be
> a benefit to having a reasonably priced assay lab that would be able to
> determine with best acceptable practises what the composition of a piece
> of scrap is?
> 
> using locally available scrap and knowing its composition would help
> toward ensuring that blacksmiths and metalworker in general are not
> dealing with a hazardous material and also in some small way reducing
> the use of oil in the production and transportation of new metal.
> 
> how can we as blacksmiths and metalworkers become better stewards of the
> resources that we generally use either as hobbyist or professionals?
> 
> by being better stewards of those resourses we can have, even if it is
> extremely small in total percentage, have a beneficial impact on the
> environment and the dependency of domestic and foreign oil.
> 
> -- 
> terry l. ridder ><>
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