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The Methane to Markets Partnership 
is an international initiative that advances cost-effective, near-term methane recovery and use as a clean energy source.
Currently the world's largest coal producer and consumer, China produced 949.1 million metric tons of underground coal in 2000. China's energy needs are met primarily by coal; it consumes virtually all of the coal it produces. China has large reserves of gassy, high-rank coal, and its coalbed methane (CBM) re-sources are estimated to be twice those of the U.S.
China also leads the world in overall coal mine methane (CMM) emissions, emitting 172 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents from coal mining activities in 2000. CMM emissions are projected to increase dramatically in the next several decades. Recent legislation required that all gassy mines practice methane drainage. About 85 to 90 percent of methane released to the atmosphere from coal mining in China originates in underground mines. All of China's state-owned coal mines (SOCMs) employ longwall or other caving methods of mining that release gas into adjacent strata.
China has a long history of CMM recovery. Underground methane drainage began in China in the 1950s, and surface CMM development began in the 1990s. By 2002, the China Coal Information Institute (CCII) reported that 196 coal mines in China had drainage systems in place. Total methane drainage in 2002 was 1.5 billion cubic meters; of this amount, approximately 500 million cubic meters were recovered and used, mostly as boiler fuel and town gas.
Resources
- Feasibility Studies: EPA's Coalbed Methane Outreach Program has launched three full-scale feasibility studies of coal mine methane recovery and utilization projects at Chinese coal mines: Liuzhuang mine in Anhui Province, a group of six mines in the Songzao coal basin in Chongqing, and a group of six mines in the Hebi region of Henan Province. (September 18, 2008)
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EPA's Press Release
Feasibility Study of CMM Utilization for Songzao Coal and Electricity Company Coal Mines (May 2009) (PDF) (157 pp, 10 MB, About PDF)
This document is also available in Chinese (May 2009) (PDF) (161 pp, 11.2MB, About PDF)
- Coal Mine Methane in China: A Budding Asset with the Potential to Bloom (February 2009) . IEA Information Paper, February 2009. International Energy Agency. An assessment of technology, policy, and financial issues relating to CMM in China, based on interviews conducted at coal mines in Guizhou and Sichuan provinces.
- Methane to Markets Coal Mine Methane Overview (Summer 2008) (PDF) (3 pp, 283K, About PDF)
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Organizations
- China Coalbed Methane Clearinghouse - Developed by Coal Mine Safety Supervision Administration of CCII and EPA in 1994 to promote CBM/CMM recovery and use in China.
35 Shaoyaoju, Chaoyang District
Beijing 100029, P.R.China
Tel/Fax: 0086-10-84657948
Email: cbmc@public.bta.net.cn
- Guizhou CMM Initiative - Hosted by the Guizhou International Cooperation Center for Environmental Protection, has conducted an EPA-sponsored project to promote CMM project development in Guizhou Province.
- Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs, Jackson, WY is conducting an EPA-funded project to promote CMM projects in Shanxi Province, China.