Drugi Bełchatów. Metan kopalniany w Polsce

The report highlights that Poland accounted for 70% of methane leaks from active coal mines in Europe in 2018. It argues that these emissions have a greater climate impact than the CO2 emissions from the Bełchatów Power Plant when using a 20-year warming horizon. The analysis identifies JSW and PGG as the dominant emitters, with the Budryk mine being the largest single source in Europe. The document recommends accelerating emission reduction plans, closing high-emitting mines, banning the release of captured methane, and integrating methane into the EU ETS by 2030.

• In 2018, Poland was responsible for 70% of methane leaks from active coal mines across Europe. When including closed mines, Poland's share was 57% of the total EU-27 emissions, emitting 659 kt out of 1152 kt.
• Methane emissions from Polish coal mines have a higher climate impact than the CO2 emissions from the Bełchatów Power Plant. Using a 20-year horizon (where 1 ton of methane equals 86 tons of CO2), 695 kilotons of methane equals 56.7 million tons of CO2, exceeding Bełchatów's 2018 emissions of 38.3 million tons of CO2.
• Two companies, JSW and PGG, were responsible for 90% of methane leaks from active hard coal mines in Poland in 2018. JSW accounted for 50% (231 kt of 462 kt) and PGG for 40% (186 kt).
• The JSW Budryk deep mine is the largest emitter of mine methane in both Poland and Europe, emitting 93 kilotons of methane in 2018, which corresponds to 8 million tons of CO2 (20-year horizon).
• Methane leaks increase the climate impact of hard coal combustion in Poland by an average of 23%. Specifically, they increase the life-cycle emissions of JSW coal by 51% and PGG coal by 22%.
• Approximately 16% of methane emissions come from methane that has already been captured by degassing plants but is released into the atmosphere when supply exceeds internal energy demand. The value of this wasted gas was estimated at 110 million PLN in 2018.
• Two PGG mines, Mysłowice-Wesoła and Sośnica, are identified as high emitters that increase the life-cycle climate footprint of their coal by 73% and 52% respectively. These two mines produced only 9% of PGG's coal but accounted for 37% of its methane emissions.

APA

Kasprzak, M., & Jones, D. (2020). Drugi Bełchatów. Metan kopalniany w Polsce. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2020/10/Polish-Polands-Second-Belchatow.pdf

Chicago

Kasprzak, Małgorzata, and Dave Jones. Drugi Bełchatów. Metan kopalniany w Polsce. Ember, 2020. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2020/10/Polish-Polands-Second-Belchatow.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kasprzak |first1=Małgorzata |last2=Jones |first2=Dave |title=Drugi Bełchatów. Metan kopalniany w Polsce |publisher=Ember |date=November 2020 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2020/10/Polish-Polands-Second-Belchatow.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kasprzak2020drugi, author = {Kasprzak, Małgorzata and Jones, Dave}, title = {{Drugi Bełchatów. Metan kopalniany w Polsce}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2020}, month = nov, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2020/10/Polish-Polands-Second-Belchatow.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }