Who owns coal reserves

Adverse geologic features in a mining area, such as folding, faulting, and interlayered rock strata, can limit the amount of coal recovered at some underground and surface mines. Access to some coal is limited. We annually estimate recoverable coal reserves by adjusting the DRB to reflect accessibility and recovery rates in mining. As of January 1, , we estimated that the remaining U. Recoverable coal reserves at producing mines represent the quantity of coal that can be recovered that is, mined from existing coal reserves at producing mines.

These reserves essentially reflect the working inventory at producing mines. In , the recoverable reserves at producing mines were Emission-abatement technologies such as carbon capture and storage CCS are being developed that could enable a cleaner, more environmentally-friendly use of coal in the years ahead. Coal production in the country peaked in , and has been in steady decline ever since — despite promises by President Donald Trump to revive the domestic mining industry.

According to the US Energy Information Administration EIA , coal production in the country in was the lowest it has been since , with further annual declines expected. Russian policymakers have announced plans to boost domestic coal production over the coming years — targeting as much as million tonnes annually by Markets in the Asia-Pacific region — where coal is still consumed more readily than in the Western world — are considered key targets for Russian coal exports.

It is the top exporter of coal, followed closely by Indonesia, providing Production occurs across the country , but the states of New South Wales and Queensland are most prolific — particularly for producing black, or bituminous, coal in the Bowen Basin and Sydney Basin along the eastern coast.

Most of these reserves are located in the north and north-west regions. A announcement from President Xi Jinping that China will target carbon neutrality before is likely to result in the country taking steps to reduce this overreliance on coal for its domestic energy supply. The U. Geological Survey states that the country has "small reserves of coal, natural gas, and petroleum.

In , the Bangladesh Energy and Mineral Resources Division reported million tonnes of "proved" reserves in the Phulbari basin and Back in , the government has a plan to generate over 10, mw of electricity from coal-based power plants by and 20,mw by under its proposed coal sector master plan.

Of the targeted electricity, 11, MW would come from plants burning coal from domestic mines, while the rest would be generated at the plants run by imported coal. As of , the country's overall coal production is around 3, tons a day from the Barapukuria coal mine in Dinajpur. The government claims the country has coal reserves estimated at around 3. A subcommittee formed to develop a coal mining city selected four potential areas in Dinajpur: Parbatipur, Nawabganj, Birampur and one other.

The government is working to develop the mining city for coal mining, coal mine reclamation , and relocation of the local people that would be affected. The first draft of the national coal policy was prepared during the regime of previous government in December The incumbent Awami League-led government finalised a new draft of the national coal policy in , which proposed waiver of corporate tax for contractors or licensees to encourage coal mine exploration, development and marketing, as well as a rebate of import duty, tax and value added tax VAT on the import of machinery for use in coal mining.

On May 30, , New Age reported that the Bangladesh government had started to try to build public opinion in favour of open pit coal mining extraction from the deposits located in the northern districts, in particular the Phulbari coalmine. The government had also started developing a mining town in Dinajpur close to the coal deposits in Phulbari and Barapukuria - the Phulbari, Barapukuria and Dighipara coal deposits are in Dinajpur. Initially, the proposed area of the new town would be 30— acres of land, with the government expecting that it will grow in size as economic activities expand.

A subcommittee of the convening committee, formed to choose a site for the proposed mining town, selected four places in Dinajpur, including Parbatipur, Nawabganj and Birampur. An official said that the subcommittee had decided to develop the mining town in Dinajpur because of the "need" to tap the coal deposits of the Phulbari, Barapukuria, Dighipara and Khalashpur, and the Madhyapara hard rock mine.

According to the state-run oil, gas and mineral resources corporation Petrobangla, there are five deposits of about 2, million tonnes of high-quality coal in the three northern districts. While initially designed to produce 1 million tonnes a year from a longwall mining operation," [1] the mine has encountered strong community opposition, dissatisfaction of the workforce with the company and limited production.

The 2,acre underground mine includes acres of agricultural land on the surface. The International Accountability Project reports that mining operations at Barapukuria have destroyed roughly acres of land, impacting about 2, people in seven villages, as land subsidence of over one meter in depth has destroyed crops and lands and damaged homes. People in 15 villages have also reportedly lost their access to water, as huge quantities of water pumped out for the Barapukuria mine caused a rapid drop in water levels.

However, ahead of the the August expiry of the agreement the Barapukuria Coal Mining Company sought expressions of interest from mining companies for the further expansion of the mine.

While Peabody expressed interest in the project [11] the sole bidder on the contract was the existing operator, a consortium comprising and CMC. BCMC entered into a new contract for a further six years with the expectation that output from the mine - running at approximately , tonnes in - would double the following year.

In its annual report BCMC stated that in the new contract a target annual production of 5. Bangladesh consumes 2,, short tons st of coal per year as of the year and ranks 60th in the world. As of , coal supplied only 2. While current coal used for power generation is low, that could change significantly. With a low per capita electricity consumption, rapid economic growth stimulating a rapid increase in electricity demand and shortages of gas for power generation, the Bangladesh government is looking to domestic and imported coal to fuel a significant proportion of its ambitious power generation expansion plans.

In its annual report the Bangladesh Power Development Board flagged that the government wanted an additional 12, MW in capacity installed by the end of , 24, MW by and 39, MW by The state-owned company, Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation , which is commonly known as Petrobangla, is involved in oil and gas exploration, production, and distribution. It is also "involved in the exploration for and production of such minerals as coal, granite, and limestone for the manufacture of cement", the USGS reports.

Many in Bangladesh oppose the Phulbari Coal project. According to Asia Energy, 40, people would be involuntarily resettled by the project, although activists say the number of people evicted is likely to be ten times more.

The mine and associated infrastructure will use up 10, hectares of primarily fertile agricultural land. The project would also divert a river for the water needed, pumping out million litres of water daily, and lowering the groundwater in an area covering square kilometers.

Dynamite explosion, environmentalists say, would cause noise and dust pollution, increased by the trucks and trains that will haul away the coal to the port in Sundarban. Asia Energy plans to create a huge lake after the project is over, but activists predict that the water is likely to be toxic. The project was stalled, in the planning phase, when emergency rule was imposed in Bangladesh in January , after widespread protests against the mine.

On 26 Aug , three locals, Salekin, 20, Tariqul, 21, and Amin, 13, were killed and more than people were injured when law enforcers fired on the protesters who were demonstrating against the government decision to introduce open pit mining in Fulbari, Dinajpur.

Since , the killings have been memorialized in annual events. The country currently produces approximately 4, MW of electricity a day "against peak hourly demand of over 6, MW.