Satellite photo suggests Russian coal mine spewed 99 tons of methane in an hour
LA TimesEmergency workers sift through the debris of a ventilation unit destroyed in an explosion at the Raspadskaya coal mine in Russia in May 2010. A private company that uses satellites to spot sources of methane emissions around the globe said Wednesday that it detected one of the largest artificial releases of the potent greenhouse gas ever seen, coming from a coal mine in Russia earlier this year. Montreal-based GHGSat said one of its satellites, known as Hugo, observed 13 methane plumes at the Raspadskaya mine in Siberia on Jan. 14. GHGSat said it measured further plumes over the mine during subsequent flyovers the following weeks, though these didn’t reach the same “ultra emission” scale seen Jan. 14. Manfredi Caltagirone, who heads the International Methane Emissions Observatory at the United Nations Environment Program, said he was not aware of any bigger release of methane from a coal mine.
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Nord Stream leaks likely single largest methane release ever: UN
Al Jazeera
‘Largest ever’ methane leak detected at Russian coal mine
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Russia: Survivor found after Siberia mine disaster kills more than 50
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