An estimation of regional emission intensity of coal mine methane based on coefficient-intensity factor methodology using China as a case study

Coal mine methane (CMM) is an important component of greenhouse gas (GHG) control, clean energy, and coal mining safety. Because of the complicated geological conditions and non-linear characteristics of CMM emissions, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) calculation methodology of CMM emissions is based on a large emission factor range (10-25 m(3)/t), limiting the accuracy of the CMM emissions calculation. This paper studies CMM emission characteristics, and designs a coefficient-intensity factor methodology integrated with IPCC methodology, to make a contribution to increase its applicability to regional circumstances. Using China as a case study, this paper uses 798 mines as samples, aiming to find a function of the relative gas emission rate and coal production. Through the calculation of the classification outflow coefficient and the regional emission intensity factor, the national emission intensity factor is about 9.176, which is lower than the minimum of IPCC emission factors for underground mining. (C) 2015 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd