Satellite spots huge burst of methane from Russian coal mine

The incident probably resulted in about 90 metric tons of methane being emitted into the atmosphere in the space of an hour

Methane emissions observed and measured with GHGSat’s satellite at the Raspadskaya mine (GHGSat via AP)

A private company that uses satellites to spot sources of methane emissions has said that it detected one of the largest artificial releases of the potent greenhouse gas ever seen, coming from a coal mine in Russia earlier this year.

Montreal-based GHGSat said one of its satellites, known as Hugo, observed 13 methane plumes at the Raspadskaya mine in Siberia on January 14.