Coalbed Methane Will Become China¡äs New ¡°Substitute Energy¡± -Interview with Wan Shenyan, General Manager of China CBM China is rich in coalbed methane resources with amounting to appro ximately 35 trillion mª¬3, equivalent to its natural gas resources (3 2 trillion mª¬3). The natural gas output was 16ª±6 billion mª¬3 in 199 4 and 17 billion mª¬3 in 1995, far short of the requirements of the na tional ecnomic development. Coalbed methane, which has never been well utilized since ancient times, will possibly become China¡äs new sourc e of energy - new ¡°substitute energy¡±. At the press conference, Mr. Wang Shenyan, General Manager of Chin a United Coalbed Methane Co. Ltd. which was approved to set up by the State Council, said, as the world largest coal producing country, Chin a was endowed with enormous coalbed methane resources which could be r ecovered.Great importance should be attached to the simultaneous deve lopment of coalbed methane with coal mining and make full use of the two resources of coal and coalbed methane so as to serve economic con struction and people¡äs benefits. He said, by recovering coalbed methane, coal mines could produce c oal more safely and efficiently. The gas recovered would also be put i nto proper use. In China¡äs energy consumption, coal has always accounted for abou t 70%. China¡äs coal output ranks first in the world and the geologica l reserves of coal are 1 trillion tons. China¡äs coal production was 1ª±229 billion tons in 1994, 1ª±3 billion tons in 1995 and is expected to reach 1ª±4 billion tons by the end of this century. Even so, the p er capita occupation of resources in China is only 40% of the world av erage. Hence, China is relatively short of resources. Therefore, the departments concerned in China have already taken c oalbed methane as the secondary resources after coal to develop and ha ve also taken it as one of the four strategic starting-up projects of the coal industry. Although China is short of resources over a long period of time, the rich coalbed methane resources have been wasted. Every year more t han 10 billion mª¬3 of coalbed methane are discharged to the atmosphe re from the ventilation system of coal mines and are wasted. Coalbed methane is a clean gas energy, which can be used as reside ntial fule, fuel for power generation or other fules. It is also a goo d feedstock for production of chemical products such as fertilizer, ca rbon black and fromaldehyde. The CHª­4 content in coalbed methane is a bove 90% and the heating value is equivalent to that of natural gas. Wang Shenyan said, in order to prevent gas outbursts, 600 milliom mª¬3 gas were drained from coal mines every year, of which 400 millio n mª¬3 were supplied to coal mines as residential fuel and the remaini ng was only used as feedstock of carbon black. Hence, coalbed methane had never played a role in industrial production before the establish ment of the Corporation. To seek a new source of energy which can effectively substitute or make up the deficiency of the existing energy has always been the foc us of the attention and wish of human being. In recent years, people have gradually recongnized that coalbed me thane can bring about multiple benefits because it can not only increa se the supply of energy and improve mine safety and prodcutivity, but also protect the environment. Coalbed methane development is more att ractive to cities and towns in mining areas. Coalbed methane can direc tly enter the natural gas system and substitute coal as a clean reside ntial fuel. It can also improve the quality of the atmosphere. Wang Shenyan said, if coalbed methane could not be well utilized and is vented to atmosphere, it would not only cause global warming, b ut is also detrimental to global environment, thus causing lots of har mful effects. Therefore, many countries in the world have already util ized coalbed methane as a source of energy. The amount of methane disc harged during coal mining in China accounts for one third of that in the world. Due to the restrictions of economic and technical conditions, Chin a is still at the initial test stage in its commercial development of coalbed methane. However, the great potential of using coalbed methan e as a clean energy, which has only been developed in the recent 10-20 years, is being gradually recognized. (continued on page 26)