The world’s biggest methane leak has been discovered coming from a coalmine in Russia, which has been pouring out the carbon dioxide equivalent of five coal-fired power stations.
About 90 tonnes an hour of methane were being released from the mine in January, when the gas was first traced to its source, according to data from GHGSat, a commercial satellite monitoring company based in Canada.
The leak is from the Raspadskaya mine in Kemerovo Oblast, the largest coalmine in Russia.
GHGSat said the leak is the biggest it has seen since it started global satellite monitoring in 2016.
Australia is still not part of the Global Methane Pledge which was launched in 2021.
More than 110 countries have signed up to the pledge which aims to reduce methane emissions by at least 30 per cent below 2020 levels by 2030.
One industry that is reducing methane emissions in Australia is agriculture.
Farmers are already leading the way on methane reduction and it’s time the gas and coal industries did the same, according to Farmers for Climate Action.
Methane from the agriculture sector has been falling but federal government data shows methane emissions from the gas industry is rising.
Farmers for Climate Action CEO Dr Fiona Davis said Australia could support a 30 per cent methane reduction target if there was a willingness to reduce methane from gas extraction.
“Food supply is not a negotiable or a nice-to-have,” Dr Davis said.
“We’re not afraid of Australia signing up to a 30% methane reduction target.
“Fires, floods and drought are all hurting farmers. Our food supply is a key part of our national security.”