Coal Mine Methane Data Tracker

About

Ember’s Coal Mine Methane (CMM) Data Tracker allows users to analyse and visualise the most comprehensive dataset available on national-level coal mine methane emissions. The tool provides country-by-country insights into CMM commitments, reported emissions, independent estimates and forecasts through 2027. It also integrates coal production data from metallurgical and other coal, the split between underground and surface mines and Ember’s confidence scoring system for reported emissions.

The dataset covers all major coal-producing countries and includes historical emissions reported to the UNFCCC, complemented with Ember’s own UNFCCC-derived gap-filling calculations. It also includes  the most recent independent estimates from the IEA and GEM (2024). Global emissions are compared against the Global Methane Assessment’s least-cost scenario and the 1.5 °C pathway, providing context for assessing progress toward global climate goals.

Ember’s collected and estimated emissions on coal mine methane is fully open and available for free under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Why track coal mine methane emissions?

For its first 20 years in the atmosphere, methane’s warming impact is over 80 times that of CO2. Therefore, the methane emitted by coal mines in 2023 will have a greater climate impact in the next two decades than India’s total CO2 emissions in the same year. 

The scale of the problem is likely much bigger than many realise, because methane emissions from the vast majority of mines are not precisely measured and reported. The IEA estimates that coal sector emissions are on par with those from the oil or gas industries. Ember finds that in 2023 only 23 countries submitted coal mine methane data to the UNFCCC, meaning 89% of the emissions estimated by Ember were not reported. To keep warming on a 1.5 °C pathway the coal sector would need to cut around 20 million tonnes of methane by 2030. 

Notes

1 kt methane = 28 kt CO2e over a 100-year timescale, whilst over a 20-year timescale 1 kt methane = 82 kt CO2e.

Emissions from underground mines are generally monitored better than open cut/surface coal mines. Underground coal mines tend to directly measure their methane emissions (even though these measurements are often not incorporated in national reporting frameworks) whilst open cut/surface coal mines always use emissions factors with coal production data.