Value and development direction of efficient development of coal-measure natural gas in energy transition

Natural gas resources are the transition from fossil to non-fossil energy. Coal-measure natural gas is an essentialpart of natural gas. To give full play to the advantages of coal measure natural gas development in China’s dual-carbon strategy, the value and development direction of efficient development of coal-measure natural gas in energy transition are studied. The results show that China’s coal-measure natural gas resources are diverse, abundant, and widely distributed, providing a solid foundation for large-scale and efficient development. The efficient development of coal-measure natural gas resources is of great significance for promoting low-carbon energy development, which can effectively reduce the proportion of high-carbon fossil energy consumption, help reduce CH₄ greenhouse gas emissions, and realize the double effect of increasing production and reducing carbon by combining with CCUS technology. In addition, it plays a significant role in promoting the development of new energy sources, which can guarantee the high-quality peak regulation of new flexible power systems, safer hydrogen production and storage, and synergistic and complementary geothermal resources to improve development efficiency. At present, the overall single-well production of coal-measure gas wells in China is low, and the development technologies remain immature, which constrains the efficient development of coal-associated natural gas. Therefore, this study explores the key directions for advancing coal-measure natural gas development in China, including: vigorously developing deep coalbed methane resources to increase the amount and reserves of deep coalbed methane and overcome the challenges associated with complex deep geological conditions; actively implementing integrated exploration and production of multiple types of coal-measure natural gas to reduce exploration and development costs and enhance single-well productivity; promoting zero CH₄ emissions from coal mines to reduce CH₄-related greenhouse gas emissions and increase the contribution of mine gas drainage to total natural gas production; strengthening the integration of CCUS with efficient coal-measure natural gas resource development to enable the synergistic advancement of CCUS technology and coal-measure natural gas exploitation; enhancing the integration of geology and engineering in coal-measure natural gas development to improve the compatibility between development technologies and reservoir geological conditions; and accelerating the digitalisation and intelligentisation of coal-measure natural gas development to facilitate the efficient, green, and low-carbon utilisation of these resources through advanced digital and intelligent technologies.