The map uses data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker– a worldwide dataset of coal mines. The information includes operating mines producing one million tonnes per year or more, as well as smaller sized mines. Credit: ESA (Data source: Global Coal Mine Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, January 2022).
This map reveals the averaged methane concentration abnormalities spotted by the Tropomi instrument on the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite from 2018-2020 over southern Poland. The pickaxes suggest the positions of the biggest underground coal mines.
This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image shows us Rybnik, situated southwest of Katowice, with a number of coal mines visible in the neighboring surroundings. Credit: Contains customized Copernicus Sentinel information (2021 ), information processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Information from the Tropomi instrument onboard the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite has actually been utilized to spot methane plumes over some of Europes biggest methane-emitting coal mines.
Methane is an important greenhouse gas released from natural sources, such as wetlands, in addition to human activities consisting of agriculture, wastewater management, and fossil-fuel production. Methane is the second most abundant anthropogenic greenhouse gas after co2 yet is more than 25 times as potent as co2 at trapping heat in the environment.
It is necessary to track and manage fugitive methane emissions, gases that get away or leakage inadvertently or through a controlled release from commercial procedures, as significant gains can be achieved in restricting worldwide temperature level boost by suppressing such emissions.
It is for that reason critical to execute policies intended at decreasing methane emissions as an essential to combating climate modification. This is particularly timely with more than 100 nations signing up to the Global Methane Pledge which intends to restrict methane emissions by 30% by 2030, signed during the COP26 at Glasgow in 2015.
This map reveals the clusters of both underground and surface coal mines in Europe. The darker the red, the more coal mines there remain in the area. The map uses data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker– an around the world dataset of coal mines. The information includes operating mines producing one million tonnes each year or more, along with smaller sized mines. Credit: ESA (Data source: Global Coal Mine Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, January 2022).
Methane emissions from coal mining.
The coal mining industry contributes substantially to worldwide methane emissions and is accountable for around 33% of all nonrenewable fuel source associated emissions of methane from 2008-2017. Usually, for underground coal mines, massive ventilation systems are utilized to provide the flow of fresh air underground to help water down gases such as methane, in addition to help regulate the temperature level for safe working conditions.
However, this ventilation air methane eventually ends up being launched into the atmosphere, thus serving as a source of fugitive methane.
According to the European Commission and the European Environment Agency, the leading 10 largest methane discharging coal mines in Europe remain in Poland. Jointly, these mines released around 282 300 tonnes of methane into the environment in 2020.
Thanks to methane observations from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, we can now observe regions with enhanced methane concentrations from strong point sources all over the world. Satellite observations are a powerful tool for improving estimates of emission strength, seeing how they alter gradually and can also help spot previously unknown emission sources.
Scientists from the University of Leicester have actually utilized information– generated by the University of Bremen– from the Tropomi instrument onboard Sentinel-5P to observe methane concentrations related to key mining areas throughout Poland and demonstrate whether the satellite can catch coal mining emissions.
This map shows the averaged methane concentration abnormalities identified by the Tropomi instrument on the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite from 2018-2020 over southern Poland. The pickaxes suggest the positions of the biggest underground coal mines. Credit: ESA (consists of customized Copernicus Sentinel data (2018-20), processed by University of Leicester.
The accumulated methane from the area visualized here from 2018 to 2020 exposed that the largest methane concentrations were focused in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, west of Krakow, a prominent mining area controlled by a cluster of underground coal mines.
Harjinder Sembhi, Earth Observation Scientist from the University of Leicester, remarks, “As a few of these mines remain in really close distance to each other, specific plumes are challenging to observe. Nevertheless, we were able to find averaged large-scale methane enhancements, approximately 20 parts per billion above background concentrations.”.
Hartmut Boesch, Divisional Director of the UKs National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO), adds, “Despite some limitations in satellite data coverage, owing to clouds, we found that the areas of biggest concentrations spotted by Tropomi are constant with the biggest emitting mines in Poland as reported by the European Commission emission database.”.
Scientific examinations are continuous to figure out the source emission rates connected with these massive coal mining methane enhancements observed from Tropomi which can be complemented by high-resolution sensors such as GHGSat to offer observations for private websites.
Claus Zehner, ESAs Copernicus Sentinel-5P Mission Manager, remarks, “The Sentinel-5P objective is now being successfully used to demonstrate spaceborne capabilities to support the monitoring of International and european techniques on methane emissions keeping track of. The upcoming climatic Copernicus Sentinel-5 and Copernicus Carbon Dioxide Monitoring objectives will ensure the extension of this ability over a long period of time duration.”.
This details will likewise be a valuable addition to the work of regulatory bodies in designing fast-acting reduction measures that might have a substantial and nearly instant effect on mitigating such methane emissions in the future.