Satellite spots huge burst of methane from Russian coal mine

By FRANK JORDANS
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — A private company that uses satellites to find sources of methane emissions around the globe said Wednesday that it detected one of the largest releases of the potent greenhouse gas ever seen, coming from a coal mine in Russia earlier this year. Montreal-based GHGSat said one of its satellites, known as ‘Hugo,’ observed 13 methane plumes at the Raspadskaya mine in Siberia on Jan. 14. The incident likely resulted in about 90 metric tons of methane being belched into the atmosphere in the space of an hour, the company calculated. GHGSat said it alerted the Raspadskaya mine operator, but received no response. The operator also didn’t respond to a request for comment from The AP.