Methane (CH4) is a naturally occurring gaseous compound and is the ‘natural gas’ used globally as a fuel both for industry and in people’s homes. One of the places it occurs is associated with underground coal deposits and when the coal is mined the methane is released.

Methane gas has been a major source of hazard to coal miners since coal became the energy source for the industrial revolution. Methane is both flammable and explosive and methane gas explosions in coal mines still kill thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of coal mine workers in China to this day.

In most other parts of the world, strict safety regulations are enforced to ensure that coal mines are properly ventilated, thus preventing dangerous concentrations of methane to exist in the working areas.

This is done by blowing fresh air from the surface, through the mine galleries and venting the air plus methane mixture back out, into the environment.

Until recently, this practice was considered acceptable both from the safety and environmental perspective.

However, with the onset of the climate-change problem facing our world, new thinking and new practices are required. Fires and explosions are not the only hazards posed by methane. It is also a very potent greenhouse gas: in fact molecule for molecule, it has 21 times the global warming effect of carbon dioxide (CO2)! So, simply blowing methane gas out from coal mines into our small and vulnerable atmosphere is no longer the smart thing to do. In addition, as is stated at the beginning, methane is a valuable energy source so venting to atmosphere is becoming an increasingly unacceptable waste of a valuable resource.............

Questions 1 Review the steps taken to capitalise on this opportunity.
2 Examine the extent to which different interests, economic and environmental, are balanced