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Coal India Ltd has told Coal Ministry that it cannot extract coal mine methane (CMM) under prevailing regulatory norms. It is difficult to implement two different Acts simultaneously in the same mine, a senior official said.
This is even after the Petroleum Ministry agreeing to the proposal of allowing Coal India to explore CMM. The Coal and Petroleum Ministries arrived at a consensus that Coal India can go ahead with CMM extraction where mining activity is underway. But, pricing and allocation of gas has to be governed by existing norms decided by the Petroleum Ministry.
“Coal India has highlighted that they already have a mining lease and are governed by the Coal Mines Act. And, therefore, it is not possible to implement another Act in the same mine,” said a Coal Ministry official.
This means a new policy framework that allows simultaneous extraction of CMM and coal needs to be put in place. “This would take some time,” the official added.
The public sector miner has informed its nodal Ministry that if regulatory issues are sorted out, it would immediately outsource CMM mining to experienced players.
Coal Ministry is also looking at policies implemented by other countries such as Australia where CMM is extracted. The Government is also looking at end-use of CMM – whether it can only be used for captive power generation at pit head or may be transported to other areas for use by industrial customers.
Methane recovered from working mines can be grouped under the term CMM, says the World Coal Association (WCA). At present, there are more than 220 CMM projects worldwide in 14 countries.
India has never trapped CMM and the gas is blown out of mines using fans. According to WCA, methane emissions from working underground mines make up the majority of emissions from coal mining related activities.
The various CMM projects worldwide help prevent nearly 3.8 billion cubic metres of methane emissions every year.
China has recently looked into recovery of CMM from the largest coal deposits present in the country.
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