<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/26/methane-emissions-from-queensland-mine-may-be-gross-underestimates-un-research-finds>
"Emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane at a Queensland coalmine were
likely between three and eight times higher than officially reported, according
to UN-backed research that flew aircraft over the site.
Queensland’s open-cut coalmines are known to be a major source of methane and
experts are worried that official figures could be a gross underestimation of
actual emissions.
The research, part of the UN environment programme’s International Methane
Emissions Observatory (IMEO), is thought to be the first time monitoring
equipment on aircraft have been used to directly measure a coalmine’s methane
emissions.
Two aircraft with different types of monitoring equipment and flying at
different altitudes looked for plumes of methane coming from Glencore’s Hail
Creek coalmine in the Bowen Basin – a site highlighted in a previous study as a
major emitter.
Glencore challenged the results of the research, published in the American
Chemical Society (ACS) journal
Environmental Science and Technology Letters.
In 2023, the mine reported total emissions of 0.53m tonnes of CO₂-equivalent
(CO2e) – including methane and other CO₂ emissions – to the government’s
safeguard mechanism scheme, which covers sites with high emissions.
But data collected by the UN team’s aircraft suggested emissions just from Hail
Creek’s escaping methane were likely between 1.5Mt and 4.2Mt CO2e per year.
Dr Stephen Harris, at the University of New South Wales and UNEP’s IMEO, said
the two aircraft carried different types of methane monitoring equipment but
yielded similar results, “increasing confidence in our results”."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
