2019 – Posted in: Daily News – Tags: coal India limited

Coalbed Methane

For: Mains

Topics covered: All about Coalbed Methane – Uses, Advantages, Significance

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The Coal Ministry asked the state-run coal miner Coal India Limited (CIL) to produce 2 MMSCB (million metric standard cubic meters) per day of coalbed methane (CBM) gas in the next 2 to 3 years.

This is because the CBM has been looked as a clean alternative fuel with significant prospects.

Coalbed Methane (CBM)

Term coalbed methane refers to methane adsorbed into the solid matrix of the coal.
Like shale gas, CBM is extracted from unconventional gas reservoirs — where gas is extracted directly from the rock that is the source of the gas (shale in case of shale gas and coal in case of CBM).
The methane is held underground within the coal and is extracted by drilling into the coal seam and removing the groundwater. The resulting drop in pressure causes the methane to be released from the coal.

CBM in India

The country’s coal and CBM reserves are found in 12 states, with the Gondwana sediments of eastern India holding the bulk.
The Damodar Koel valley and Son valley are prospective areas for CBM development, with CBM projects existing in Raniganj South, Raniganj East and Raniganj North areas in the Raniganj coalfield, the Parbatpur block in Jharia coalfield and the East and West Bokaro coalfields.
The Son valley includes the Sonhat North and Sohagpur East and West blocks.

Uses of CBM

CBM can be used for power generation, as compressed natural gas (CNG) auto fuel, as feedstock for fertilisers, industrial uses such as in cement production, rolling mills, steel plants, and for methanol production.

Concept of CBM coextraction

Environmental impact

As with all carbon-based fossil fuels, burning coalbed methane releases carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. Its effect as greenhouse gas was firstly analyzed by chemist and physicist Svante Arrhenius. Methane is rated as having 72 times the effect on global warming per unit of mass than CO2. over 20 years, reducing to 25 times over 100 years and 7.5 times over 500 years.

Analysis of life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of energy sources indicates that generating electricity from CBM, as with conventional natural gas, has less than half the greenhouse gas effect of coal.

Important Information

India has the fifth-largest coal reserves in the world
Coal India Limited (CIL) accounts for over 80 percent of India’s domestic coal output.
CBM is also known as ‘sweet gas’ because of its lack of hydrogen sulfide.
Methane is stored within the coal by a process called adsorption.
Coalbed methane contains very little heavier hydrocarbons such as propane or butane, and no natural-gas condensate. It often contains up to a few percent carbon dioxide.
Great Eastern Energy (GEECL) is setting up the first CBM station in Southeast Asia and the same will be located in India in the city of Asansol in West Bengal.

Source: Indian Express