20 May 2009: The World Bank approved a loan of US$80 million to fund the utilization of coal bed methane (CBM) and coal mine methane (CMM) as substitutes to coal in China.

The Shanxi Coal Bed Methane Development and Utilization Project will focus on Shanxi Province, which produces one quarter of China’s coal production of 2.6 billion tons and hosts one-third of the estimated 32 trillion cubic meter (TCM) CBM resource in China. The production of coal results in the emission of methane (CH4) as a greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, which is approximately 21 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. On the other hand, methane is a high quality and clean energy that can be recovered either during mining operations or ahead of mining activities and used as a clean fuel by households, commercial and industrial establishment or for power generation. [World Bank Press Release]