North China's coal-rich Shanxi Province achieved a record coal-bed methane (CBM) output of 13.4 billion cubic meters in 2024, up 18.9 percent year on year, according to the provincial statistics bureau.

CBM is a byproduct of coal production and considered a major cause of fatalities in coal mine accidents. This unconventional natural gas is primarily composed of methane and produced from coal seams.

With modern technology, CBM can be stably extracted and used as a clean energy source. Currently, CBM is being explored and utilized in large scale in Shanxi -- rather than being discharged to pollute the environment. Through this process, coal mines have also managed to effectively reduce gas explosion accidents.

"In the next stage, Shanxi will take multiple measures to boost CBM storage and production, and vigorously promote CBM development," said Mao Xiaowen, deputy director of the Shanxi energy bureau.

Shanxi is rich in CBM resources, with about 8.31 trillion cubic meters of proven CBM reserves underground within a depth of 2,000 meters -- which accounts for nearly one-third of the country's total. Notably, the province's 2024 CBM output amounted to 80.6 percent of China's total, the provincial energy bureau revealed.

Last year, Shanxi's raw coal output reached 1.27 billion tonnes, accounting for around 26.7 percent of the national output, the provincial statistics bureau said. 

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