China aims to increase coal-bed methane output, avoid gas accidents

China aims to increase coal-bed methane output this year while avoiding coal mine gas leak accidents, a senior official said Monday. The country's coal-bed methane output is expected to reach 15.5 billion cubic meters in 2012, up from 11.5 billion cubic meters last year, said Liu Tienan, head of the National Energy Administration. Meanwhile, China targets a 10-percent reduction in major coal mine gas accidents and their resulting death tolls this year, he said. Rising demand for coal and gas will complicate the country's efforts to prevent accidents, Liu said while calling for efforts to step up the monitoring of coal mine operations and strengthen innovation of gas control technologies. China reported 119 mine gas accidents last year with a death toll of 533, down from 155 accidents and 623 deaths in 2010.