Coal mines supplying steel mills will face new methane scrutiny
Mines supplying coal for steelmaking will face new pressure over methane emissions as a United Nations watchdog expands its work.
The International Methane Emissions Observatory will extend a program that currently alerts oil and gas producers and governments to releases of the greenhouse gas detected by satellite, according to a report published Friday.
Methane emissions from metallurgical coal production account for about 30% of the short-term climate footprint of the steel industry, IMEO said. The cost to mitigate that impact could be as low as 1% of the price of steel, according to the organization.
Coking coal suppliers including Anglo American and BHP Group are among companies implementing and testing methods aimed at reducing methane pollution. Addressing 100% of fugitive emissions will likely require “significant technological progress,” BHP said in a June presentation.
IMEO’s alert program is intended to sound the alarm on emissions, and to press companies and policymakers to take action to address them.
Since 2023, the agency has prompted major releases from oil and gas sites in Algeria, Azerbaijan, Nigeria and the US to be halted, the report said. However, of more than 1 200 alerts that have been issued, IMEO received substantive responses in only 1% of cases.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation