Emissions of methane, a potent heat-trapping gas, from Indonesian coal mines are eight times higher than official estimates would suggest, a new report finds.
Indonesia is the world’s third-largest producer of coal, after India and China, and its mines are a fast-growing source of methane, which is found in pockets alongside coal seams, analysts say.
Indonesia is grossly underestimating the amount of methane unleashed for every ton of coal produced at surface mines. And it has neglected to account for emissions from several underground mines, according to a report from energy think tank Ember.
In total, coal methane emissions are likely eight times higher than indicated in Indonesia’s most recent report to the U.N. This year methane leaking from Indonesia coal mines will do more to fuel warming than emissions from all wildfires across the country in 2022, Ember estimates.
Scientists say that cutting emissions of methane, which linger in the atmosphere for only around a decade, is essential to reining in warming in the short term. Indonesia is one of more than 150 countries that has pledged slash methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030.
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