Incineration or burning of any fuel leaves a series of residual gases that promote global warming; however Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA) agreed with the UN on a methane gas burning system in its coal mines that greatly lessens the impact on the environment.

 

AHMSA informs that to operate a coal deposit, methane gas is extracted in advance by drilling, to keep the safety of workers. If this gas is discharged into the atmosphere, will produce a warming effect greater than that caused by other gases, because methane is a greenhouse gas (GHG) which, if allowed to escape into the atmosphere, traps heat in larger quantities than other GHG gases, because it has an index of Global Warming Potential (GWP) greater than CO2. The GWP is a relative measure of how much heat can be absorbed by a particular GHG compared to a reference gas, usually carbon dioxide (CO2).

 

Instead of discharging the methane to the atmosphere, AHMSA implemented a technology gas incineration that will reduce significantly the emissions of methane, giving a positive effect on the environment, because when it is incinerated, methane leaves mainly CO2 as a residue, which has greenhouse effect 21 times smaller than methane, since the GWP of CO2 is 1, while the methane is 21.

 

In a statement from the steel company, it is reported that currently 8.9 million cubic meters of methane are destroyed, equivalent to about 133,000 tons per year of carbon dioxide, a technology that was endorsed by the United Nations (UN). This will allow the company to access the carbon market.

 

The carbon market, also called carbon credits, is an international decontamination mechanism intended to reduce emissions of pollutants into the environment; it was proposed in the Kyoto Protocol to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming.