Best fuel to store.... coal?

I was wondering, what would it take to store coal for a long period of time? Just a dry spot? After all, it's not like a little age will hurt it, it's already a million years old. A steam engine generator and a pot belly stove and you'd be set for heat and electricity.

What does coal cost these days anyway?

Anyone have experience? Suggestions?

 

well

It would help if you would tell us what the "fuel" is going to be used for. My personal stock of fuel is kerosene for lanterns and a space heater along with wood for cooking on my bar-b-que pit. Keep in mind - let everything be dual purpose. Coal for a pot belly stove - what else? Can coal be used in a fire place, or used to cook with (besides a stove)?

Wood - bar-b-que pit, pot belly stove, camp fire and fire place.

Keresone - lanterns, hand cleaner, and space heaters.

Coal - pot belly stove & ?? - I really do not know. Unless you had a home furnace that used coal??

I do not use coal nor do I have any plans on using it nor do I have any plans or stockpiling it.

 

.... I said a potbelly stove and a steam engine to run a generator. I figure since we used to run giant locomotive trains off coal, a little home generator would be a piece of cake.

Sorry I should have excluded vehicle fuel in my original post... Although if you stuck to electric vehicles you could recharge with the above mentioned generator.

maybe? I'm just guessin here

 

Well ghrit, since you illuminated the downsides of the steam engine, I guess it's not such a good idea. It does sound a bit too labor and attention intensive.

I guess you could run a stirling engine off coal, but I don't know much about them either.

Prolly best to stick with more modern/common fuels.

 

Might not work for you, but it would for other people, store a chainsaw and gas. Plant some oak trees, the smaller round wood burns great, doesn't need splitting.

 

Got more trees than I know what to do with, but the shelf life on the gas is only what, 3-4 years?

 

The steam engine theng Can be done but as mentione it DEMANDS attention. I have talked with folks who do it as a hobby and one of the sayings that is common is 'theres a stick of dynamite in every pint of water', basicly every pint (or less) of water, once turned to steam has at least as much energy as a stick of dynamite and it is being heated in a large sealed metal container. If there is a problem you have a big bomb going off with lots of shrapnel. That said it is a relatively simple (concept wise) type of engine and works well if properly run.

As far as the coal another important use would be if you set up a forge and learn to do some blacksmithing then you could become VERY popular and valuable (pronounced protected as a comodity) to your comunity in a EOTWAWKI situation by being able to make the needed tools from scrap metal. Coal forges do work VERY well, its how I learned to smith and made some of my best knives that way.