Introduction
Methane emissions as a result of coal mining constitute ten percent of the total human-related methane emissions. Methane is a greenhouse gas (GHG) with a radiant forcing about 23 times greater than that of carbon dioxide on a mass basis. In many developed countries these emissions are already captured and used as an alternative energy source. The technology of capturing and converting the emission into an energy source could also be transferred to the areas with significant coal mine methane (CMM) emissions potential. In particular, this project has identified the countries of Central and South-Eastern European Countries and in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as the ones which have one of the largest coal mine methane emissions in the UNECE region.
The objective of the project is to raise the awareness of the benefits that CMM has in economic, social and environmental terms. A successful CMM project could utilize emissions as an energy source, improve mine safety and air quality in the area and have a positive spill over into the level of local employment and investment. The benefits of reduced level of emissions could also be used in the carbon emissions trading market.
In the past few years the value of carbon emission reductions has resulted in large capital flows into the market for carbon mitigation projects such as CMM projects. Access to funds, however, remains a challenge even though CMM projects are generally viewed as an attractive asset class.
In order to overcome these barriers and realize the benefits CMM projects can deliver, the UNECE aims to support development of three or more financially viable project documents which will be submitted to the investment community. A short summary of the project is available below.
Project Description
Who
The UNECE together with the support from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Objective
- Three or more bankable project documents, which shall be considered by investment funds;
.
- Lessons learned and disseminated to
project developers from the Region and
elsewhere on how to prepare the most
effective bankable project documents for
approval by financing organizations;
and,
.
- Elaboration of a roadmap for
financing additional CMM projects in
the region formulated by the end of the
project period.
When
The
estimated project duration is from mid 2005 to the end of 2007.
Where
The
project envisages to cover the area of Central
and South-Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS), in particular: the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Kazakhstan,
Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic, and
possibly Hungary, Bulgaria and Croatia. .