§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact on(a) air quality and (b) greenhouse gas emission targets of the venting of coalbed methane gas released by drilling and fracturing of the coalseam to the atmosphere; and if she will make a statement. [53793]
§ Mr. MeacherMethane vented from working coal mines is included in the UK National Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. For 2000, methane emissions from working coal mines was 5.04 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, less than one per cent. of the UK's total Greenhouse Gas Emissions. At current atmospheric levels methane does not have adverse air quality impacts.
Deliberate drilling of undisturbed seams, fracturing the coal and pumping can be used to produce methane. Using this gas would be similar to using natural gas, though not absolutely identical because the composition differs slightly. The emissions consequences of natural gas burning are well-understood.