Ember

Ember Global energy think tank accelerating the clean energy transition with data and policy

Just ten coal mines – less than 1% of the world's total – are estimated to cause nearly 5% of the total 41,400 preventab...
05/10/2026

Just ten coal mines – less than 1% of the world's total – are estimated to cause nearly 5% of the total 41,400 preventable deaths caused worldwide by ozone formed from coal mine 🫁

The single-largest contributor is Kazakhstan's Bogatyr coal mine: one of the largest open-pit mines in the world. Its 2024 methane emissions alone are linked to an estimated 271 deaths that could be prevented – more deaths than any other mine ☢️

A relatively small number of mines worldwide account for a disproportionate share of mortality, and identifying them is the first step toward reducing the death toll 🔎

Full analysis 👇
https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/annual-coal-mine-methane-emissions-are-linked-to-tens-of-thousands-of-deaths

The EU’s incoming metallurgical coal rules, phasing in from 2027, will capture upstream methane from the coal it imports...
04/10/2026

The EU’s incoming metallurgical coal rules, phasing in from 2027, will capture upstream methane from the coal it imports 🇪🇺

But the EU buys only about 13% of the world’s seaborne metallurgical coal.

Japan and South Korea together buy about 28%. If they asked their suppliers for the same data, the share covered would rise to roughly 41%.

Both already do this for gas imports through the joint CLEAN initiative. A similar buy-led disclosure cycle for coal would bring mine-level methane data into existing import contracts.

https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/methane-doesnt-read-the-label

Japan’s steel sector sources coal from methane-emitting mines, but does not count the emissions.An estimated 308 kt of m...
03/10/2026

Japan’s steel sector sources coal from methane-emitting mines, but does not count the emissions.

An estimated 308 kt of methane was released from the coal mines that supply 11 blast furnaces in Japan:

🏭 Nippon Steel: 181.7 kt CH4
🏭 JFE Steel: 100.5 kt CH4
🏭 Kobe Steel: 25.9 kt CH4

Coal's upstream emissions belong in Scope 3 Categories 1 and 3. For Nippon Steel, counting this methane would add 46% to its reported Category 1 and 3 emissions on a 100-year basis, and more than double them over 20 years 📈

Depending on origin, fugitive methane can add between 0% and 140% to steel's short-term climate impact, a spread no purchasing decision currently reflects.

https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/methane-doesnt-read-the-label

Nearly HALF of the 26,400 lives lost due to ozone formed from coal mine in the coming decades can be SAVED immediately...
02/10/2026

Nearly HALF of the 26,400 lives lost due to ozone formed from coal mine in the coming decades can be SAVED immediately with technology that already exists.

✅ Both pre-drainage and ventilation air methane oxidation are commercially proven.
🫁 Deployed together, they could prevent an estimated 12,600 deaths.

"Which is why this is as much a public-health issue as a climate one," highlights Ember’s Nishant Bhardwaj.

Yet, wider adoption of this technology is held back by one thing: there's no regulatory obligation to use it – methane is not treated as a regulated ozone precursor in any of the world’s major air quality frameworks, including in the EU, the US and under the UNECE Gothenburg Protocol.

Read the full analysis 👇
https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/annual-coal-mine-methane-emissions-are-linked-to-tens-of-thousands-of-deaths

Indonesia’s coal shipments to Japan in 2024 were read 3 different ways:🇮🇩 39% coking (Indonesian Customs)🇯🇵 52% for coki...
02/10/2026

Indonesia’s coal shipments to Japan in 2024 were read 3 different ways:

🇮🇩 39% coking (Indonesian Customs)
🇯🇵 52% for coking (Japan Customs)
🏭 2% metallurgical (Kpler Commercial)

This made 13.6 Mt of Indonesian coal sit in Japan’s residual “Coal for Coking N.E.S” tariff line, blurring coal classifications – and therefore upstream methane accounting.

These labels were built for trade and commercial purposes, yet coal phase-out policies and disclosure frameworks also rely on them.

https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/methane-doesnt-read-the-label

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