Effective monitoring, reporting and verification of methane emissions in the coal industry and the linkage to methane mitigation

Abstract

Methane is a short-lived greenhouse gas (GHG) and climate pollutant responsible for about half of the net rise in global average temperature since the pre-industrial era. Among the largest contributors to methane emissions are the extractive industries, including coal mining, especially from underground mines. Methane is released into the mine workings as the coal seams are mined. Even after closure, underground mines can continue to emit methane. Methane is emitted at all stages of mining, and it is the 4th largest source of methane emissions worldwide. Mitigation of coal mine methane (CMM) emissions can occur through cessation of mining activity or, alternatively, through implementation of good practices such as recovery and use of CMM and abandoned mine methane (AMM). Prior to construction and operation of a CMM/AMM project, coal mines need to be evaluated on their potential to host such a mitigation project through detailed pre-feasibility and/or full feasibility studies. Data required for a pre-feasibility or full feasibility study should be congruent with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Tier 2 and 3 methodologies. However, the number of countries using Tier 3 methodologies is relatively small. Establishing national systems for emissions monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) that are based on measured, facility-level data will allow countries to scale up mitigation of methane emissions from coal mining. Such robust data can help identify mitigation opportunities at specific mines, scaling up mitigation, and support design of more effective policies to encourage investment in CMM mitigation projects. In 2021, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Global Methane Initiative (GMI) published the Best Practice Guidance for Effective Management of Coal Mine Methane at National Level: Monitoring, Reporting, Verification and Mitigation to offer practical considerations to policymakers and industry decisionmakers for designing national systems that methodologically quantify and accurately report methane emissions from coal mines with a principal objective to support mitigation of methane emissions. This paper presents global CMM emissions, information on known operating and planned CMM projects worldwide, and an overview of the fundamental principles of MRV for coal mine sources, while proposing a practical approach to support data needs of MRV programs and coal mine pre-feasibility/full feasibility studies and illustrating how effective MRV programs (as presented in the UNECE/GMI Guidance report) support can scale up CMM project development and future emission reductions.