Coal Seam Firefighting

Coal seam firefighting is done on occasion but is recognised as difficult. The key innovation in the story titled Frackers is the development of carbon credits that can be claimed for the extinguishing of these massive, long-lasting, harmful and ultimately pointless fires.

Our experts have classified this solution as a ‘gamechanger’ meaning changes to the systemic conditions leading to different incentives/decision-making processes.

How does this solution rate on:

Climate impact: tonnes of carbon saved/removed	Hundreds of millions of tonnes of CO2e could be realised through the systematic application of this approach.
Climate adaptation-resilience
Social justice i.e. addresses inequalities, diversity, inclusion	Low. This is ‘just’ an extinguishment project, apart from the nuisance smoke and heat that affect the small number of communities that have the misfortune to live near the fires.
Cost of action needed to progress goal	No new equipment is needed for this project. As described in the story, a ream of existing frackers and their associated logistics support & water trucks could start this work today.
Which location is the solution most needed/applicable	USA, China, Australia and other coal areas.
Risk	Some risk to the teams, this will be a tricky job. Low risk to the environment. Some risk of reignition.
Feasibility	Entirely feasible, this could be done today. Carbon Credit protocols could be written.

Do your own research on the solution

The CO2 emissions from these coal-seam fires are a largely unreported disaster that affects several countries around the world, and adds 1% to the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

This video discusses the case study of Centralia (a small abandoned town in Pennsylvania). The video explains why the town had to be evacuated due to a burning coal mine beneath it, which illustrate the issue we are trying to fix.

These types of issues are just happening in this one small town. See the below videos for further case studies in China, India and Colorado (USA).

We have also compiled a list of academic papers and journalistic articles which explain the issue as well as the solution for further reading.

Interested in progressing this solution further?

Actions for policymakers	Ban all non-profit generating emission sources of all types.
Actions for funding bodies	Provide full funding for dozens of projects in multiple locations around the world.
Actions for business	Set up carbon credit protocol and start collecting them.
Actions for public	Continued ignorance.