JAKARTA – Methane emissions from Indonesia’s expanding coal mining sector are significantly under-reported, jeopardising the nation’s international climate commitments, according to new analysis from energy think-tank Ember.

The world’s third-biggest coal miner after China and India undercounts methane emissions from production of the fuel by six to seven times, according to Ember, which cited independent estimates from scientists using satellites and mine-level data compiled by non-profit Global Energy Monitor.

Indonesia neglected to include methane releases from underground reserves, Ember said.

While the country’s last official report to the United Nations used an approved approach that applies an emissions factor to each ton of coal extracted or produced, Ember said given the nature of the country’s open-cut mines, a higher factor would have been more appropriate. 

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said it needs to review the findings, a spokesperson said on March 11, a holiday in Indonesia.

The discrepancies could jeopardise Indonesia’s efforts to slash releases of the gas and meet emissions reductions commitments under the Global Methane Pledge.

More than 150 nations have signed the agreement, vowing by the end of this decade to cut methane by 30 per cent from 2020 levels. 

Methane is the primary component of natural gas, but it can also leak during coal production when rock strata or coal seams are fractured and operators routinely vent methane into the atmosphere to reduce health and safety risks for workers. Few mines use available above-ground capture technology. 

According to Ember, to improve accuracy, Indonesia should collect data and analyse emissions from individual mines and distinguish between emissions from underground and surface mines when it reports the releases.

Estimates from satellites and independent analysis suggest that many countries under-report their methane emissions.

In 2022, Australia revised its calculations for methane pollution from open-cut coal mines, a change that meant total national annual emissions were on average 0.3 per cent higher than stated for more than 30 years. 

Methane has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide during its first 20 years in the atmosphere, and clamping down on avoidable emissions from fossil fuels is one of the cheapest, fastest ways to avoid levels of climate change that scientists agree would be catastrophic. BLOOMBERG