Abstract
The opencast Bilina coal mine (Czech Republic) produces eight million tons of subbituminous coal per year. To evaluate greenhouse gas emissions from the mine, we measured the chemical and isotopic composition of gases released from fresh coals using the canister method and after coal crushing and milling. The δ13C values of the released methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) corresponded to their biogenic origin (δ13C (CH4) −70 ‰ to −55 ‰ vs. VPDB, δ2H − 275 ‰ to −260 ‰ vs. VSMOW, δ13C (CO2) -10 ‰ to −16 ‰ vs. VPDB). The findings revealed that secondary biogenic gas production replaced original coal bed gases and the excavated coal is rich in CO2 (0.615 m3 ton−1), but very low in CH4 (0.09 m3 ton−1). Additionally, most of the secondary CH4 was released before excavation. The loss of CH4 (0.235 m3 ton−1) was calculated back from the isotope fractionation of residual CO2. High CO2 emission increased its atmospheric concentration in the mine (570–2000 ppm).
Published Version
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