Open-Pit Coal Mines Report Large Methane Emission Declines in 2024

A 2022 Czech study concluded that coal loses 75 percent of its methane before extraction. A preliminary UN-funded study published in March found operator-reported surface coal mine emissions lower than external expert estimates and described site-specific testing as unsuitable for accurate estimation.

Between 2016 and 2023, three Australian mines reported 8.5 million tons less emissions using site-specific methods than they would have under state-based factors.

The EU Methane Regulation, scheduled for implementation in 2027, allows fines of up to 20 percent of annual turnover for failing to report emissions. The European Commission is preparing a request to draft standards for estimation of emission factors for surface coal mines, expected to be presented next week.

The European Committee for Standardization is not currently working on guidelines for methane emissions from coal mining.

Brian Ricketts, secretary-general of Euracoal, said the three countries have developed similar methodologies with a view to a future standard and that each method is robust. PGE stated its samples were collected from test boreholes across its mined deposit. A Czech Environmental Ministry spokesperson said the 75 percent emissions occurred in the past without human influence.

At RWE’s April annual general meeting, 99 percent of voting shareholders sided with the board after activist investors proposed a vote of no confidence over methane measurement methods. Michael Müller, RWE’s chief financial officer, said the company’s measurements are based on established procedures confirmed by external expert reports.

Jutta Paulus, a member of the European Parliament, said the methane regulation was mainly intended for oil, gas and hard coal and that a better methodology is needed for lignite.