# Should a steel plant buying Jharia coking coal count mine methane in Scope 3?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/jharia-coking-coal-mine-methane-scope-3

Yes, if you report category 1 for coal. Methane escapes from the seam during mining, and deep coking coal seams release more than surface mines. Without mine data, IPCC Tier 1 gives 18 cubic metres of methane per tonne for underground mining, a default with a wide range.

## The default

- Underground mining: 10 to 25 cubic metres per tonne, 18 average (IPCC 2006).
- Post mining handling: about 2.5 cubic metres per tonne more.
- Surface mining: 0.3 to 2.0, 1.2 average.
- One cubic metre of methane weighs about 0.67 kg.

## Better than default

Ask the supplier which mines the coal comes from and whether they measure ventilation methane. Mixed underground and opencast supply needs a weighted figure.

## Where it goes

Mine methane is upstream of your plant, so it is Scope 3 for you. It is not part of the CBAM figure for steel.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible turns supplier invoices into a Scope 3 record with the supplier, quantity and factor behind every figure, so you can see which supplier data is still missing.

- [Opencast mine methane](https://senseible.earth/answers/opencast-coal-mine-methane-and-diesel)
- [Bought met coke upstream](https://senseible.earth/answers/purchased-met-coke-upstream-emissions)
- [Washery CO2 per tonne](https://senseible.earth/answers/dhanbad-coal-washery-electricity-per-tonne)

Sources: [2006 IPCC Guidelines, Volume 2: Energy](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol2.html), [GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-value-chain-scope-3-standard), [2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/)

Last reviewed 2026-10-21.