CONSOL, Partners Develop Largest U.S. Methane Abatement Project In PA

CONSOL Energy Inc. and Green Holdings Enlow, Inc., a greenhouse gas abatement company, have entered into an agreement to develop the largest ventilation air methane emission abatement project in the United States at CONSOL's Enlow Fork Mine in southwestern Pennsylvania.
The VAM abatement equipment to be installed at the mine will capture and destroy methane released during the mining process that would otherwise escape to the atmosphere through the mine's ventilation system.
CONSOL Energy's Enlow Fork Mine is an active underground coal mine that produces approximately 10 million tons of coal a year. The project is designed to reduce the mine's VAM emissions by the equivalent of 190,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (tCO2e) a year and is estimated to be operational in the second half of 2010.
Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 21 times more effective at trapping heat than CO2. Globally, VAM emissions from coal mines amount to approximately 300 million tCO2e each year.
"If the United States intends to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it will have to be addressed on a broad front dealing with many different sources of GHGs," said Steven Winberg, vice president, research and development, for CONSOL Energy. "We already have a large coal bed methane production business that removes methane from coal seams before mining, producing a valuable fuel. With this agreement, we will deal with methane that is released from a coal seam during the mining process."
Winberg said the project will allow CONSOL to move from its current small scale ventilation air methane capture program to a commercial scale effort that, if successful, can be applied at many of the company's existing underground mines.
In addition to the capture of methane from coal seams and from mine ventilation, the company has a number of other projects in which it is currently involved, including the capture of CO2 from high pressure coal combustion equipment, the evaluation of CO2 storage in unmineable coal seams or in other deep geological formations.
The project at Enlow Fork Mine is the first of a number of VAM abatement undertakings that Green Holdings Corporation expects to take in the United States in anticipation of a strong, growing market for carbon offsets to be generated by the projects.
Green Holdings Corporation has a focused, high growth strategy with significant projects under development in the United States and the People's Republic of China -- the two largest sources of VAM emissions in the world.
"We are pleased to be working with CONSOL Energy, the largest underground coal mine owner and operator in the United States, on this important project," stated Jerry Gureghian, Green Holdings Corporation chief executive officer.
Green Holdings will supply the capital, will operate the unit and will be responsible for selling the emissions reduction credits. CONSOL will provide the ventilation air fan, site and technical support.