Economic evaluation of coalbed methane exploitation; an example from Poland

The paper presents the methodology of economic evaluation of coalbed methane exploitation in coal mines. The methodology consists of seven phases, which analyse: gassy conditions of coal deposit, coal exploitation scope, ventilation conditions of underground workings, productivity of degasification system as well as economics of both coal exploitation and methane recovery. In the result of the analyses classification, of methane resources and their subdivision into economic reserves and potentially economic resources can be done on the ground of either economic findings or methane content figures. The analyses also show, that methane extraction is always economic, but it can be proved only, if profit resulted coal exploitation during degasification is taken into account.