That is why we have raging debates about exploiting
unconventional oil and gas such as the tar sands in Canada and
fracking of gas in the US. Another unconventional gas that has
attracted huge interest is coal bed methane (CBM). Also known as
coal seam gas, the technology extracts methane from small
fractures in coal, by pumping out the water and gas in place.
The technology is hardly new – the US has been producing CBM
since the 1950s – but the rush to exploit CBM reserves has
gathered pace as the easy oil and gas has become more difficult
to find. Most countries that have large coal deposits have CBM
reserves, with China and Australia leading the rush to exploit
these reserves. Last year China announced plans to double CBM
production by 2015. Australia supposedly has economically
recoverable reserves equivalent to 6.7 billion barrels of oil.
In the past, many international investors are been excited by
Australia, in part due to these vast reserves, but more
importantly its closeness to the burgeoning Asian