OT: For those who really think UK coal is a viable option

[jack]

It isnt the only way of using it tho.

[jack]

He said that in the quoting you snipped.

[Tim Streater]

No he didn't. The discussion was about coal, and shipping it 12k miles being cheaper than mining locally.

[Theo]

Definitely. When I last did the numbers the road freight from Tilbury/Felixstowe/Southampton/etc was the most expensive bit - clocking up a substantial per-mile cost. Port of entry makes quite a big difference to final costs to minimise the land shipping, which is why it's worth looking for a shipping line that comes nearest to you.

Rail freight can work out cheaper, but isn't worthwhile unless you're talking London-Scotland type distances - and isn't available for short routes in the UK (on a per-container basis anyway, I'm sure you could rent a whole train).

I didn't cost out container hire or port taxes/import duty etc, which may be considerable depending on the route you're taking.

Anyway, the reason rubbish is shipped to China is that the containers have to go back empty, and might was well ship materials in them than fresh air (hopefully for reuse). Even if the containers could somehow be disposed of here, the ships have to go back anyway.

Theo

[harry]

There's lots of open cast coal mining in the UK.

[whisky-dave]

Like it's cheaper for me to fly London to Dublin than it is to get the train from London to gatwick airport.