<DrumBeat: July 9, 2007The Oil DrumThe International Energy Assocation's Medium-Term Oil Market Report>

20 comments on Some history on Coal EROI and UK coal numbers

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marcosdumay on July 9, 2007 - 4:29pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

"But if one did a "socialist" calculation using an opportunity cost for capital in addition to depreciation, then mechanisation won easily because labour productivity was so much higher on mechanised coalfaces.."

Did your "socialist" calculation take into acount the opportunity cost of not using that steel on places where it is more valued?

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TheRedBaron on July 10, 2007 - 1:33am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

No, we just used the market price of mechanised pit-props assuming the manufacturers took account of the market price of steel. Anyway, what were the missed opportunities? An important one was that European cars generally remained small, because of steel shortages whereas , in the US with lots of steel, who bought an Edsel?

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