Abstract
Coalbed methane (CBM), is an economically important unconventional fossil energy resource attracting much scientific and industrial interest today. This review outlines the generation of CBM via biogenic, thermogenic, mixed, and possibly catalytic origins and summarizes compositional and isotopic characteristics that are used to distinguish between those different origins. We compare critical geological, geochemical, and hydrological factors controlling distribution and producibility of thermogenic and biogenic coalbed gases. This review often refers to examples of the most productive CBM basins in the United States, namely the dominantly thermogenic gas-producing San Juan Basin and the biogenic gas-producing Powder River Basin.
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