Global methane emissions from coal mining could increase by up to 21.6 percent if all new mining projects under development go into operation.

This is according to a report by the American environmental group "Global Energy Monitor", quoted by BTA. 

The report says methane emissions from global coal mines amount to 52.3 million tonnes a year, up from 39 million tonnes a year from oil production.

If the new mining projects are completed, emissions will increase by another 11.3 million tonnes a year.

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"The coal age may be over, but methane emissions from new and existing mines could pose as great a threat to the climate today as oil or gas emissions," said Ryan Driskel Tate, author of the report.

Methane is 25 times stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Annual global methane emissions from mining are equivalent to 4.32 billion tons of carbon dioxide, averaged over a 20-year period, comparable to all of China's coal-fired energy sector in a year, according to Global Energy Monitor. . 

The potential 11.3 million tons of methane from new coal mining projects is equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from coal in the United States, the report said.

Large volumes of methane stored in the coal seams are released into the atmosphere during the mining process, although some methane-rich regions, including China's Shanxi province, are trying to collect and use gas as an energy source.

China, the world's largest coal producer, is responsible for 73 percent of the world's methane emissions from coal mines, with Shanxi accounting for about 13.1 million tons a year.

carbon emissions

coal-fired power plants