GEOCHEMISTRY OF COALBED GAS - A REVIEW

Coals are both sources and reservoirs of large amounts of gas that has received increasing attention in recent years as a largely untapped p otential energy resource. Coal mining operations, such as ventilation of coalbed gas from underground mines, release coalbed CH, into the at mosphere, an important greenhouse gas whose concentration in the atmos phere is increasing. Because of these energy and environmental issues, increased research attention has been focused on the geochemistry of coalbed gas in recent years. This paper presents a summary review of t he main aspects of coalbed gas geochemistry and current research advan ces. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.