The conference “Coal Mine Methane – Current Status and Challenges”, organized by the International Center of Excellence for Coal Mine Methane in Poland, the Central Mining Institute and Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa SA, was held on 7.09.2022 at the EXPO Katowice International Fair.

The event covered topics such as:

• Methods for controlling and monitoring methane emissions.
• Legal regulations on methane emissions into the atmosphere.
• Technologies for capturing and using methane from coal mines.
• The EU methane strategy.
• Transformation of the coal sector.

During the conference, Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa also announced the launch of new methane emission reduction programs with a budget of €23 million. The first of the projects – the Methane Emissions Reduction program – envisages the creation of the world’s first dedicated installation to reduce methane emissions into the atmosphere from abandoned areas of a working mine at JSW’s Pniówek mine. The project will ultimately be introduced in all JSW mines. It can also be successfully used in any multi-level coal mine in the world with a structure similar to the Pniówek mine.

Another project is an intelligent de-methanation system, which will also be built at the Pniówek mine The project, carried out by Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa and the Central Mining Institute, is of a research and implementation nature, and is aimed at optimizing and improving the efficiency of the mine’s de-methanation system through its automation and digitization. The result will be more effective capture of methane released during mining. This will improve the safety of mining crews and reduce methane emissions, as less of this dangerous gas will migrate into the atmosphere with ventilation air.