Methane emissions from coking coal mines increase the global warming effect of the steelmaking process by at least 27 per cent and can in some cases double the climate impact of manufacturing the metal, according to fresh research released today.
Steel is already widely regarded as a carbon intensive material dsue due to the high levels of carbon emissions associated with burning coking coal during the production process, but a study carried out by energy think tank Ember highlights the significant, additional emissions that result from methane - another powerful greenhouse gas - released during coal mining.
The report estimates methane leaked during the extraction of coal for use in steel manufacturing has an annual climate impact equivalent to almost 900 million tonnes of CO2, which is more than double Germany's entire annual CO2 emissions.
It also suggests coking coal mines emit more methane than all of the world's gas pipelines and liquid natural gas (LNG) pipelines put together, according to Ember.
As a result, it estimates methane emissions add 27 per cent to the climate impact of the global steel industry overall, which is already estimated to be responsible for around five per cent of global CO2 emissions.
Conal Campbell, a methane analyst at Ember, urged policymakers and the steel sector to make tackling methane leaks from coking coal mines a top priority, pointing out that doing so offers a low cost means of slashing emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas.
"Steel producers have long ignored their methane footprint," he said. "The fact is, tackling methane leaks is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to reduce the climate impact of steel. As major coal buyers, steelmakers have a responsibility to work with coal companies to quickly cut these emissions."
Methane is a fast-acting greenhouse gas that has a climate impact 82.5 times greater than CO2 over twenty years, according to the IPCC. It is released during the extraction of fossil fuels, including the coking coal used in steel production.
Under the International Energy Agency's (IEA) global net zero emissions pathway, coking coal use needs to fall by more than a quarter by the end of the current decade, and by at least 83 per cent by 2050, if the world is to stand a chance of limiting global average temperature rise to 1.5C.
To date, however, pledges from governments worldwide only amount to a reduction in coking coal demand of around 11 per cent by 2030.
Ember's analysis further places the spotlight on the risks posed to the climate by the UK government's decision to give the go-ahead to a new coking coal mine in Cumbria, a move which has sparked fierce criticism and a flurry of legal challenges.
It follows an analysis last week from think tank Green Alliance which warned the controversial project risks derailing the UK's global methane commitments, estimating it could release up to 17,500 tonnes of the climate-warming gas every year.
The proposed coal mine, which is now the subject of legal action over claims the government did not sufficiently take into account the UK's legally binding climate commitments when granting planning permission to the project, is being developed by West Cumbria Mining in a bid to supply coking coal to the steel industry.
The UK is one of 150 countries to have signed the Global Methane Pledge promising to collectively reduce methane emissions by at least 30 per cent between 2020 and 2030.
With global steel demand expected to rise by more than a third by 2050, Ember's report argues tackling methane emissions from metallurgical coal mines offers a critical and low-cost lever for delivering on the Global Methane Pledge, and tackling the climate crisis.
"We urgently need to account for and address the substantial climate impact of methane from metallurgical coal in steel production," Manfredi Caltagirone, head of the UN Environment Program's International Methane Emissions Observatory, writes in the foreword to Ember's report. "This entails that steel producers incentivise their metallurgical coal suppliers to do direct measurements of their methane emissions and mitigate them." (Business Green)