Glencore Mine Spews More Methane Than It Reports, Study Finds

Glencore Plc’s Hail Creek coal mine in Australia emits between three and eight times more methane than it reports, according to a new study, calling into question the accuracy of conventional approaches for measuring the potent greenhouse gas.

The analysis, commissioned by the United Nations and published in ACS’s journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters, was based on data from aircraft that flew over the site in 2022 and 2023 equipped with atmospheric sensors as well as a spectrometer pilots used to observe invisible plumes of the gas spewing from the mine. It’s the most comprehensive research on coal mine methane emissions undertaken by the UN’s monitoring body.