Shale has turned the US gas market on its head in the space of a few years.
Coal bed methane (CBM) is a less well-known form of natural gas.
It is already used extensively in Australia and Asia and advocates say it can do the same for the energy supply in the UK as shale has for the US.
So what exactly is coal bed methane?
It is methane that has been trapped within coal seams that is extracted prior to mining the coal.
This methane is in near-liquid state and lines the pores within the coal.
It can be extracted by drilling wells into and across the coal seam and pumping off the water in the fracture spaces.
This ‘dewatering’ process is the important bit as it allows a decrease in pressure which means the methane can ‘desorb’ from the coal and flow up the well as a gas, which is then compressed and piped to market.
Although this all sounds very complicated, it’s not.
In fact, compared to hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking’, which is used to extract shale gas, the process is relatively simple.
On top of this, fracking is very controversial due to its potentially harmful environmental effects, including the contamination of ground water and other pollution-related consequences.
There are no such concerns surrounding CBM, however, as the dewatering process is far more environmentally sound.
This opinion has been backed up by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), which explains that extracting the gas prior to mining reduces the “potentially dangerous methane gas encountered when carrying out traditional mining methods”.
Furthermore, methane has the potential to be fed directly into the gas distribution network, such are its qualities.
CBM is also different and more attractive than coal mine methane (CMM) and abandoned mine methane (AMM), which is methane released as a result of mining activities.
These methods usually have higher carbon dioxide content, which is not suitable for direct introduction.
Australian company Dart Energy (ASX:DTE) is pioneering CBM’s use in the UK.
Eytan Uliel, the company’s chief commercial officer, told Proactive Investors that despite Dart’s extensive worldwide portfolio, its most advanced asset is the Airth project, which is in fact in Scotland.
“There we have drilled our first test wells, we have encouraging results, we have entered into a long-term gas sales agreement with Scottish Southern Energy, we have at the same time certified our first reserves and on the back of all that, we are looking to move that project into commercial development in the near-term,” Uliel said.
A pilot-to-power project will utilise pilot well gas from Airth to generate electricity and provide first revenues from the field. The generator has now been installed on-site and first electricity sales are expected in the coming months.
UK-based IGas Energy (LON:IGAS) is also a firm believer in the potential of CBM in this country.
Earlier this year, the company told Proactive Investors that CBM remains its priority despite a shale gas discovery in Cheshire.
So while shale gas is making all the headlines in the industry, CBM’s potential should not be underestimated.
And with all this potential, it may only be a matter of time before we see CBM projects popping up all over the country.