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"The Chinese coal industry has recognised the economic benefits of this greenhouse solution and has already ordered three 10MW plants costing $A11 million per unit to install at mines in China,” said Macfarlane.
China suffers from frequent coal mine accidents and is keen to reduce the risks of explosions by harnessing the methane as an energy source. In addition, using the gas as fuel reduces pollution as methane that would otherwise leak into the atmosphere replaces fuels that would otherwise be burned.
Previous attempts to burn methane from mine ventilation systems failed because methane concentrations were too low or fluctuated too much to support self-sustaining combustion.
ComEnergy, a CSIRO-Liquatec partnership, has developed a system that adds waste coal from the stockpile if methane concentration gets too low.
The ComEnergy technology has been taken up by Chinese mining company Hebi Heavy Coal Group.
Another Chinese coal miner, Huainan Mining Group, is applying similar technology at its Pansan Coal Mine.
The Chinese Central Government is now moving to have mines around the country use their gas emissions more effectively, cutting costs and reducing greenhouse emissions.
Statistics from the China Mining Industry Federation suggest the methane gas resource in China amounts to 31,460 billion cubic metres – almost on a par with the nation’s natural gas reserves.
