Colorado Firm Awarded Grant to Study Mine Methane Emissions in China
Ruby Canyon Engineering, a Grand Junction, Colo.-based engineering consulting company whose main focus is greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, has been awarded a portion of the $400,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Methane to Markets grant. Subcontracting with the University of Colorado, the engineering firm will use the grant to develop inventories of gassy, abandoned coal mines and estimate their methane emissions in the coal-bearing regions of Shanxi and Hebei Provinces, China. The project is scheduled to begin in March 2010.
EPA is supporting the international Methane to Markets Partnership by funding 21 new projects that will help 11 countries capture and use methane emissions from landfill, coal, agriculture, oil, and national gas operations. Ruby Canyon Engineering was instrumental in developing EPA’s U.S. abandoned mine methane emissions inventory, the agency said.
The Methane to Markets Partnership is a public-private partnership that reduces greenhouse gas emissions by promoting the cost-effective, near-term recovery and use of methane, while providing clean energy to markets around the world. Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, and Russia are receiving grants ranging from $20,000 to $700,000. Nearly $4 million in grants were awarded.
Ruby Canyon’s services as a technical assistance provider include developing corporate GHG inventories, emissions management, emission reduction project identification, baseline methodology development, project documentation and monitoring, economic feasibility studies, and third-party validation and verification. The firm (www.rubycanyoneng.com) received its American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accreditation under ISO 14065 -- requirements for GHG validation and verification bodies -- in October 2009.