Risky Millions: Whitehaven’s methane potential

This report by Ember analyzes the methane emissions profile of Whitehaven Coal Limited, Australia's largest pure-play coal company. It argues that Whitehaven's current and proposed mining expansions could release over 1 million tonnes of methane by 2050, while highlighting significant discrepancies between company-reported emissions and independent estimates.

• Whitehaven Coal Limited is projected to release more than 1.2 million tonnes of methane between now and 2050 across its coal mine portfolio.
• The company's planned expansion of coal mining is expected to double its annual fugitive methane emissions by 2030.
• Actual methane emissions at the Narrabri underground mine have been reported as nearly five times higher than the estimates provided in the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). For the period 2018-2021, methane intensity ranged between 2.6 and 4 tonnes of methane per thousand tonnes of coal, compared to a final EIS estimate of 0.7 tonnes.
• Ember identifies significant underestimations of methane at the Maules Creek and Vickery Expansion Project mines, noting their estimated methane intensity is nearly 200 times lower than what is typically expected for coal mines at similar depths in Australia.
• Whitehaven lacks a company-wide decarbonisation plan or specific mitigation targets for methane, and has stated it is not "feasible" to mitigate methane emissions for the proposed Winchester South mine.
• Due to inadequate measurement methods under Australia's reporting scheme, independent estimates from Global Energy Monitor (GEM) suggest Whitehaven's total methane emissions could reach up to 6 million tonnes by 2050.

APA

Ember (2023). Risky Millions: Whitehaven’s methane potential. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/whitehavens-methane-potential

Chicago

Ember. Risky Millions: Whitehaven’s methane potential. 2023. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/whitehavens-methane-potential.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=Risky Millions: Whitehaven’s methane potential |date=17 October 2023 |url=https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/whitehavens-methane-potential |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ember2023risky, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{Risky Millions: Whitehaven’s methane potential}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2023}, month = oct, url = {https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/whitehavens-methane-potential}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }