German coal mines emit much more methane than reported, study says

German coal mines spew 184 times more methane than what the country reports to the United Nations, according to a new analysis by Ember. The energy think tank used methodology developed by scientists that takes into account the gas content of coal and mining depths to estimate the emissions, which cast fresh scrutiny on Germany’s strategy of pivoting towards fossil fuels in the wake of Japan’s 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.