Proposals under scrutiny

North America's coal-bed methane (CBM) industry is shifting its gaze to the immense resources in Alaska, Alberta and British Columbia, while regulators grapple with the complexities of allowing full-scale commercial development in these areas, writes WJ Simpson

CBM, WHICH has been commercially produced in the US for 15 years, accounts for close to 10% of the country's natural gas supply. But the faster production volumes grow, the more frequently CBM operators in the US Rocky Mountain region are colliding with environmental groups, landowners and government agencies over the various ill effects of CBM production—including depletion of acquifers, the release of high volumes of saline water into streams and rivers, industrial noise and underground fires. Those at the forefront of new CBM frontiers, north of the 49th parallel, have reason to be wary. They have been jolted by a series of regulatory rulings and pending court cases that could undermine t