UK Onshore Coal Resource Assessment for Conventional and New Technologies

A 2004 British Geological Survey study assessed UK onshore coal resources across an estimated 40,000 km2 area. Digital GIS data was used to produce layers identifying areas with potential for conventional mining, abandoned mine methane, coalbed methane, underground coal gasification, and CO2 sequestration. The dataset was originally delivered as a series of paper maps.

Use Cases

• Identify areas with technical potential for opencast mining based on the 1999 Coal Resource Map.
• Assess prospects for abandoned mine methane (AMM) recovery from non-recovered mine workings.
• Map coalbed methane (CBM) resource areas and potential based on Coal Authority license data.
• Evaluate underground coal gasification (UCG) potential within coal-bearing strata.
• Locate areas deeper than 1200m with potential for CO2 sequestration in coal formations.

Strengths

• Covers an estimated onshore area of approximately 40,000 km2.
• Includes multiple thematic layers for both conventional mining and new exploitation technologies.
• Derived from authoritative sources including the British Geological Survey and the Coal Authority.

Limitations

• Data is based on a 2004 study; resource estimates and technical assessments may be outdated.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file formats are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

British Geological Survey (BGS)

Collection Method

Derived from a 2004 study using a Geographic Information System (GIS) to synthesize data from sources like the Coal Resource Map and Coal Authority licenses.

Time Range

Study conducted in 2004, incorporating source data from 1999 and 2002.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-09 08:32:18.861988; freshness should be verified.

Geography

United Kingdom onshore.