To the Editor,
Recently, while reviewing the updated project description for the proposed Raven Underground Coal Mine Project, I came across the following: “Estimated methane emissions from the mine at 127,500 cubic metres per day.”
The following are calculations I did based on those estimates on methane emissions:
Methane emissions per day = 127,000 cubic metres.
127,000 cubic metres of methane = 1482 metric tonnes of CO2.
One metric tonne = 2,205 pounds.
Therefore, the mine would emit the equivalent of 3,267,810 pounds of CO2 per day.
One mature tree captures 48 pounds of CO2 per year.
One mature tree captures 0.13 pounds of CO2 per day.
At those numbers, the Raven Coal Mine would need to plant 25,137,000 trees per day to offset the methane emissions from the mine.
Perhaps the new slogan for the proposed mine should be “Save a Coal Mine, Plant a Tree”.
John Snyder,
Coal Watch
Comox Valley,
Fanny Bay