[Epoch Times on July 5, 2021](Epoch Times reporter Chen Ting comprehensive report) Kayrros SAS, an energy data analysis company, discovered through satellite photos that there have been a large number of methane clouds over Shanxi recently, which may have leaked from multiple coal mines. Overflow. The leakage of methane per hour is as high as hundreds of metric tons, which is one of the most serious leaks observed by Kayrros SAS so far in the world.
Shanxi is the coal center of China. According to the Shanxi Provincial Energy Administration, there are 34 coal mines in the area. According to a Bloomberg report, Kayrros SAS discovered through European Space Agency satellite data that a large number of methane clouds appeared above Yangquan City, about 90 kilometers east of Taiyuan City.
Kayrros said that in the satellite image on June 18, a large number of methane clouds were observed, and the estimated emission rate is about hundreds of metric tons per hour.
According to the Environmental Defense Fund (Environmental Defense Fund) data, 200 tons of methane emissions per hour, the climate warming effect produced in 20 years, approximately equivalent to 800,000 cars driving at 60 miles per hour for one hour.
The Shanxi Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment, Shanxi Provincial Energy Bureau and China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment did not respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment.
China is the world‘s largest producer and consumer of coal. According to the assessment of the United Nations, reducing the coal industry is the most important project for reducing methane emissions in China.
Methane is a by-product of bacterial corruption, including lakes and marshes, soil, garbage dumps, and animal exhaust. Methane is also a flammable gas. This is why garbage dumps sometimes catch fire. The greenhouse effect of methane is dozens of times that of carbon dioxide.
When mining coal, producers often release methane trapped underground in advance to reduce the risk of explosion.
The Environmental Protection Fund called in a report that China should establish a system to address methane emissions.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said that additional measures taken by the mining industry to capture methane also make sense to the industry because this combustible gas can be used to generate electricity, dry coal, or as a fuel.
Editor in charge: Ye Ziwei#
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