Methane, the silent killer

You've probably heard of "Natural Gas" - that's just a marketing term for methane.

Methane forms within lumps of coal and is polluted into the air and atmosphere during extraction. Gas corporations drill into coal seams to suck out methane, leaking and releasing super-polluting methane in the process.

Coal and gas are even dirtier than we think. Mining corporations lie about their methane pollution because they are not required to accurately estimate or measure methane. Australia's methane pollution is 60-90% higher than what we officially report to the UN.

People often blame burping cows for global heating. In Queensland, the biggest source of methane is from fugitive coal mine emissions. This is despite Australia dangerously under-reporting fugitive coal and gas methane emissions.

Methane is also emitted from landfill sites, land clearing, and growing crops, but practicality matters. The quickest practical way to slash methane emissions is through reducing fugitive coal and gas emissions while governments transition communities and economies away from their reliance on fossil fuels.

Methane increases asthma, respiratory diseases and cardiovascular diseases. This leads to over one million premature deaths a year through increased toxic ground-level ozone.

Methane leaks are a dangerous safety risk in coal and gas mining, harming worker health and a major explosion risk. The Russelvale coal mine in NSW had several methane explosion incidents in just a few years and has been shut down due to safety risks.

The UN says reducing the world's methane emissions by 45% within the decade could prevent 260,000 premature deaths, 775,000 asthma-related hospital visits and 73 billion hours of lost labour from extreme heat.

The best and fastest way to reduce methane emissions is for Governments to stop approving new coal mines and the expansion of existing mines. There are 17 new coal projects proposed in Queensland alone. If our governments allow these, methane emissions will dangerously surge rather than drastically reduce. The Queensland Government must also:

• Meet their commitment to decarbonise the industry by applying strong and binding methane abatement plans to all existing fossil fuel projects
• Use funds from the Low Emissions Investment Partnerships (LEIP) program to pilot best practice measurement, reporting and verification of methane pollution
• Work with Mine Rehabilitation Commissioner to include methane mitigation in rehabilitation, enable reporting and monitoring of methane from closed mines, or mines in care and maintenance
• Rule out new fossil fuel infrastructure including the proposed Bowen Basin pipeline

Methane is responsible for a third of Australia's emissions but, despite signing the Global Methane Pledge in 2022, the Australian Government has no plan to make fossil fuel corporations cut methane pollution. The Federal Government must work with the States to:

• Develop a National Methane Plan that enforces best practice monitoring, reporting and verification of methane emissions
• Make corporations fix every leak and abate methane emissions at their source
• Work with communities reliant on the most polluting coal mines to close those mines as soon as possible

Fossil fuel corporations are making huge profits while neglecting their responsibility to measure and reduce methane emissions. It is crucial they invest in technologies and practices that limit pollution, fix leaks, and address the ecological aftermath of mining.

Fossil fuel corporations must not be allowed to leak millions of tonnes of super-polluting methane without consequence. They must work with governments and reliant communities to close the most polluting mines and minimise the impact of extreme weather events that Queenslanders pay for year after year.