A coalmine in central Russia, the country’s largest, has become the epicenter of biggest methane leak ever recorded. As per latest data released by GHGSat, about 90 tons of methane per hour was being released from the mine in January, when the gas was first traced to its source. Methane is 80 percent more powerful than carbon dioxide. It is an unavoidable by-product of mining, with pockets of the gas released as seams are opened.
Raspadskaya emissions exceeds any prior emissions anywhere in the world. In October 2015, the largest man-made methane release in US history occurred at an underground natural gas storage facility in Aliso Canyon, near Porter Ranch, Los Angeles. Estimates put the rate of release as high as 58 tons per hour. The carbon footprint of the leak, which took four months to fix, was greater than that of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
In May 2010, 66 people were killed at Raspadskaya mine, Russia’s largest, in an explosion caused by a build-up of methane within its 220 miles of tunnels.
“The Raspadskaya leak would add about 25% to the greenhouse gas emissions of burning any coal produced from the mine,” the Guardian quoted Brody Wight, Director of Energy, Landfill and Mines, GHGSat, as saying.
Methane plays a big role in global warming, and this recent leak would exacerbate mitigation efforts.
Emissions from the mine stood at 87,251 kg per hour and 764,319 tons per year. There were 13 simultaneous leaks at Raspadskaya in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, on 14th January, 2022, with more plumes observed on 22nd January and 27th May.
Aggravating the environmental pollution, 13 distinct methane plumes were measured during a single satellite pass — ranging in size from 658 to 17,994 kg/hour.
If the total rate of release sustained for a year, the mine would emit 764,319 tons of methane, which can power 2.4m houses.
Subsequent observations found that the underground mine consistently expels large quantities of the gas, which has a climate-warming potential c.84 times greater than CO2 over 20 years.
GHGSat has been the first to measure emissions from open cast coalmines from space, a source that has traditionally proven challenging to quantify. In 2018, it identified a malfunctioning oil well in Turkmenistan while on a scientific mission to find mud volcanoes. Between February 2018 and January 2019, this released c.142,000 tons of methane.
Their satellites also recorded an open cast facility in Kazakhstan generating 54,000 kg/hr of the gas during passes in January and February this year.
GHGSat’s new observations build on this work and previous studies. Due to the unique, high-resolution instruments on board the company’s six satellites, which can image down to just 25m x 25m on the ground, researchers can now pinpoint the exact source of methane leaks.
Emission rates too can be precisely measured, as the sensor’s accuracy has been validated in third-party blind experiments involving controlled releases of methane. This data can play a vital role in helping mine operators better understand their emissions and prioritize coal mine methane (CMM) capture projects.
© Geospatial Media and Communications. All Rights Reserved.
