Coalbed Methane in India

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xx

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2. Coalbed Methane in India: Its Relevance and Current Status

   • Ajay Kumar Singh, Partha Narayan Hajra

   Pages 1-19

3. Current Status of CBM in India

   • Ajay Kumar Singh, Partha Narayan Hajra

   Pages 21-35

4. Coalbed Methane Potential Assessment

   • Ajay Kumar Singh, Partha Narayan Hajra

   Pages 37-82

5. Economic and Environmental Aspects

   • Ajay Kumar Singh, Partha Narayan Hajra

   Pages 83-98

This book offers a first-of-its-kind, standalone review of coalbed methane (CBM) in India, covering all the major technical and policy aspects. As an authoritative text on CBM in India, it addresses the essential geological, engineering and policy issues. The Coalbed Methane industry is a rapidly developing sector in Indian energy supply. The book presents the characteristics of coal beds in India’s Damodar and Son river valleys, which influence the commercial viability of CBM in the regions, as well as a study of the gas contents of the country’s major coalfields. 

The book begins with a brief review of methane emissions from Indian coal mines and the current coalbed methane situation in the country. Its unique features include a coalfield-by-coalfield technical assessment of CBM throughout India. Policy matters are addressed, including the National Exploration Licencing Policy (NELP) of the Indian Government Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, which is vital to an overallunderstanding of CBM development in the country. The scope and depth of its book’s coverage will benefit students, practising engineers, researchers and policy-makers.

• CBM in India
• Methane Emission from Coal Mines
• Clean Coal Technologies
• Greenhouse Gas Abatement
• Indian Energy Sector
• industrial pollution prevention
• water quality and water pollution

• Methane Emission and Degasification Group, CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad, India

  Ajay Kumar Singh

• ONGC Energy Centre, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd., New Delhi, India

  Partha Narayan Hajra

Dr. Ajay Kumar Singh was formerly a scientist at the CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, where he headed the Methane Emission and Degasification Division for almost two decades. He was the Principal Investigator tasked with determining the fugitive methane emissions from Indian coal mining activities for the Ministry of Environment and Forests & Climate Change, Government of India and was involved in the preparation of India’s Initial and Second National Communications to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). He is one of the lead authors of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (Fugitive Emission Section, Energy Volume) published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 

Dr. Singh has also managed several projects related to CBM and coal mine methane (CMM) in the country. He was the lead investigator for the Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR) in the Unit

ed Nations Development Program Global Environment Facility Government of India (UNDP/GEF-GOI Project) on Coalbed Methane Recovery and Utilization and the Project Leader of the United States EPA Grant on Coal Mine Methane Recovery and Utilization in three major Indian coalfields. He also led the Network Project on Underground Coal Gasification. He has also led several consultancy projects, for e.g. the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), subsidiaries of Coal India Limited (CIL) and other private enterprises. Thus, he has more than 25 years experience advising the government and agencies on critical issues related to CBM, CMM and other related aspects in the field of earth sciences and energy. 

Partha Narayan Hajra has been working with India’s leading oil and natural gas company, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), for the last 36 years. Mr. Hajra has been involved from the initial phase of coalbed methane (CBM) exploration of ONGC and with his untiring eff

orts has established indigenous techniques for the assessment of CBM potential from various laboratory studies. As CBM exploration has progressed, he has taken a keen interest in all aspects of CBM activities – exploration, drilling and production – and has developed a comprehensive understanding of this field. In recognition of his contributions to the field of CBM he was awarded the “National Mineral Award – 2000” in 2002 by the Ministry of Mines, Government of India. He served as the General Manager, supervising the entire range of CBM exploration activities and formulation and planning of future development activities in the CBM blocks under CBM Development Project, ONGC, Bokaro. He is currently associated with CSIR-CIMFR as a consultant for feasibility study on CBM and assessing fugitive emissions from the petroleum and natural gas section.

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