Table 14. U.S. Methane Emissions from Coal Mining and Post-Mining Activities, 1990-1998
(Million Metric Tons of Methane)

Source 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 P1998
Surface Mining  
  Mining 0.43 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.45 0.45 0.46 0.47 0.49
  Post-Mining 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04
Underground Mining                  
  Ventilation (Gassy Mines) 2.13 2.04 2.10 1.82 1.85 1.91 1.71 1.84 1.80
  Ventilation (Nongassy Mines) 0.03 0.03 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.05
  Degasification 1.26 1.23 1.17 1.05 1.06 1.21 1.02 1.06 1.16
  Post-Mining 0.64 0.61 0.61 0.53 0.60 0.60 0.62 0.63 0.63
  Methane Recovery for Energy (-) 0.25 0.25 0.39 0.53 0.67 0.80 0.94 0.94 1.02
                   
Net Emissions 4.26 4.12 3.97 3.34 3.36 3.43 2.95 3.16 3.15
P = preliminary data.
Notes: Data in this table are revised from the data contained in the previous EIA report, Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 1997, DOE/EIA-0573(97) (Washington, DC, October 1998). Totals may not equal sum of components due to independent rounding.
Sources: Coal production numbers from Energy Information Administration, Coal Production, DOE/EIA-0118 (Washington, DC, various years), and Coal Industry Annual, DOE/EIA-0584 (Washington, DC, 1995-1997). Methane recovery rates from U.S Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation, Anthropogenic Methane Emissions in the United States: Estimates for 1990, Report to Congress (Washington, DC, April 1993), pp. 3-19-3-24; and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation, Identifying Opportunities for Methane Recovery at U.S. Coal Mines, EPA-430-R-97-020 (Washington, DC, September 1997). Ventilation data for 1985, 1988, 1990, and 1993 provided by G. Finfinger, U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh Research Center. Ventilation data for 1994 and 1996-1998 provided by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Climate Protection Division, Coalbed Methane Outreach Program.

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