Methane emissions from Queensland mine may be gross underestimates, UN research finds

A UNEP study that flew two planes with methane equipment over the Hail Creek coalmine in the Bowen Basin, found methane levels were likely somewhere between three and eight times above the annual emissions reported by the mine. Photograph: Jorg Hacker Airborne Research Australia

Emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane at a Queensland coalmine were likely between three and eight times higher than officially reported, according to UN-backed research that flew aircraft over the site.

Queensland’s open-cut coalmines are known to be a major source of methane and experts are worried that official figures could be a gross underestimation of actual emissions.