Jesse Burton

2

A methane gas-filled cloud appears after a 2024 coal mine blast in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images

October 28, 2025

Jennifer Lee Broadhurst, University of Cape Town; Brett Cohen, University of Cape Town; Jesse Burton, University of Cape Town, and Nicola Wills, University of Cape Town

South Africa’s coal mines seem to be leaking far more methane than official records show.

South Africa has made promises to decarbonise but is hugely reliable on coal - so this is difficult. Shutterstock

March 15, 2016

Lucy H. Baker, University of Sussex and Jesse Burton, University of Cape Town

The process of decarbonisation is a complex one for South Africa, as most its power supply comes from coal.