Decreasing methane emissions from China's coal mining with rebounded coal production

Abstract China is the world’s largest anthropogenic methane (CH4) emitter, with coal mine methane (CMM) as one of the main contributors. However, previous studies have not reach consensus on the magnitude and trend of China’s CMM emissions since 2010. Through distribution fitting and Monte Carlo methods, dynamic emission factors (EFs) of CMM at the province-level were derived with high confidence; along with the updated data on surface mining, abandoned coal mines, and methane utilization, we revealed that China’s annual CMM emissions were estimated at 20.11 Tg between 2010 and 2019 with a decline of 0.93 Tg yr-1. Although coal production was revived in 2017, we found that the growing trend of China’s CMM emissions since 2012 were curbed by the previously-overlooked factors including the growth of CMM utilization and coal production from surface mining, and decrease of emission factors driven by the closure of high CH4-content coal mines and a regional production shift to lower-emission areas.

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Sustained methane emissions from China after 2012 despite declining coal production and rice-cultivated area

10.21203/rs.3.rs-95281/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jianxiong Sheng ◽

Rachel Tunnicliffe ◽

Anita Ganesan ◽

Joannes Maasakkers ◽

Lu Shen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rice Paddy ◽

Methane Emissions ◽

Coal Production ◽

Fugitive Emissions ◽

Coal Mine Methane ◽

Abandoned Coal Mines ◽

Atmospheric Observations ◽

Observational Record ◽

China’S Growth ◽

Modelling Approach

Abstract China's anthropogenic methane emissions are the largest of any country in the world. A recent study using atmospheric observations suggested that recent policies aimed at reducing emissions of methane due to coal production in China after 2010 had been largely ineffective. Here, based on a longer observational record and an updated modelling approach, we find that China's growth in methane emissions did decline (0.3±0.1 (±1σ) Tg CH4 yr-2 for 2012-2017, as compared to 0.77±0.2 Tg CH4 yr-2 for 2010-2012). We find that the decrease in growth rate after 2012 can in part be attributed to a decline in China's coal production. However, coal mine methane emissions have not declined as rapidly as production, implying that there may be substantial fugitive emissions from abandoned coal mines that have previously been overlooked. We also find that emissions over rice-growing regions do not show a negative trend (0.13±0.05 Tg CH4 yr-2 for 2010-2017) despite reports of shrinking rice paddy areas, implying potentially significant emissions from new aquaculture activities, which are thought to be primarily located on converted rice paddies.

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Study on the Interprovincial Emission Factor of Chinese Coal Mine Methane

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.295-298.3354 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 295-298 ◽

pp. 3354-3358

Author(s):

Ning Wang ◽

Tao Zhu ◽

Sha Chen ◽

Da Wei Luo

Keyword(s):

Coal Mine ◽

Emission Factor ◽

Discharge Coefficient ◽

Regression Function ◽

Emission Factors ◽

Coal Production ◽

Function Model ◽

Coal Mine Methane ◽

Different Types ◽

Chinese Coal

From the basic conditions of Chinese Coal Mine Methane (CMM) emission, the thesis studies the CMM discharge coefficient of different types of mines in china after establishing the “the output - emission regression function model” by the means of raw coal production. Besides, according to CMM’ distribution in different provinces’ (areas) of China, interprovincial emission factors will be calculated, laying foundation for the calculation of the CMM’s emission and reduction.

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