§ Mr. RobathanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate she has made of the benefits to the environment of capturing coal mine methane and using it to generate electricity. [15723]
§ Mr. MeacherA report produced for the Department earlier this year estimated that current UK emissions from abandoned coal mines are likely to be in the range of 20 to 300 kilo tonnes. The upper end of this range is equivalent to around 11 per cent. of the UK's total current methane emissions, or about 1 per cent. of UK greenhouse gas emissions as a whole. The emissions estimate is highly uncertain and we plan to carry out further work to gain a better understanding of the estimate, including the amount of gas that is in practice emitted and the potential for reducing these emissions by, for example, using the methane for electricity generation. I am aware that this Department, the Department for Trade and Industry and HM Treasury have been in discussion with the Association of Coal Mine Methane Operators about how the Government could help projects that use coal mine methane to generate electricity.