Mitigating climate change by abating coal mine methane: A critical review of status and opportunities

International Journal of Coal Geology
By: , and 

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Abstract

Methane has a short atmospheric lifetime compared to carbon dioxide (CO2), ∼decade versus ∼centuries, but it has a much higher global warming potential (GWP), highlighting how reducing methane emissions can slow the rate of climate change. When considering the contribution of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to current global warming (2010–2019) relative to the industrial revolution (1850–1900) levels, methane contributes 0.5 °C or ∼ a third of the total. The most recent post-2023 global estimates of methane emissions by bottom-up (BU) and top-down (TD) approaches for the coal mining sector are in the range of ∼41 ± 3 Tg yr−1 and 33 ± 5 Tg yr−1, respectively. This divergence, notwithstanding overlapping confidence intervals, is a result of differences between applied TD global inversion models and BU emission inventories. Further research can help to better refine emissions from the various contributing coal mine methane (CMM) emissions sources. The coal mining sector accounts for over 10 % of global anthropogenic methane emissions. The contribution of CMM emissions to the global budget have increased since 2000, although upward and downward regional trends have been observed.
Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Mitigating climate change by abating coal mine methane: A critical review of status and opportunities
Series title International Journal of Coal Geology
DOI 10.1016/j.coal.2024.104623
Volume 295
Year Published 2024
Language English
Publisher Elsevier
Contributing office(s) Eastern Energy Resources Science Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center
Description 104623, 29
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