The first-ever greenhouse gas (ghg) emission reductions purchase agreement has been signed by China recently. Under the pact, Jincheng Anthracite Coal Group Company Limited will capture coalmine methane and use it for generating power at the Sihe coal mine in Jincheng city of Shanxi province. The project will be part of the Clean Development Mechanism (cdm) of the Kyoto Protocol that allows countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (oecd) to meet some of their emission reduction targets by undertaking projects in developing countries.

The emission reductions achieved by the Chinese project will be purchased by the Prototype Carbon Fund (pcf), a public/private partnership comprising six governments and 17 private companies. The pcf plans to buy 4.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (co2) equivalent of emission reductions from the project. Methane from coal mines accounts for eight per cent of the global ghg emissions on a stand-alone gas basis. It is 23 times more powerful than co2 in causing global warming.