The 30th Anniversary Session of the Committee on Sustainable Energy of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) was held in Geneva from 22 to 24 September 2021. During the session, UNECE Executive Secretary Ms. Olga Algayerova honored a group of experts from Poland and China for their outstanding work on behalf of the Committee and the International Mine Methane Centers of Excellence.

Janusz Jureczka, Ph.D., Director of the Upper Silesian Branch of PGI-NRI in Sosnowiec and a member of the International Group of Experts on Methane and the presidium of the International Centre of Excellence on Methane from Mines operating under the aegis of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, is among those honored.

The International Centre of Excellence for Coal Mine Methane (ICE-CMM) brings together experts working on new methods for capturing and using coal methane to improve mine safety, mining efficiency and environmental protection, and to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Centre gathers information on methane management from all over the world, serving as a platform for the exchange of experiences from the coal sector, and promotes the implementation of best practices in the field of effective capturing and utilizing methane in coal mines.

The agreement on the establishment of the International Centre of Excellence for Coal Mine Methane in Poland was signed in Geneva in 2015 by UNECE and the Central Mining Institute, and in 2016 it was joined by the Polish Geological Institute, the Polish Oil and Gas Company (from pol. Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo - PGNiG) and the Oil and Gas Institute, at the same time expanding the scope of the agreement to include another research issue - pre-mining coalbed methane capture. In 2020, Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa also started cooperation within the ICM-CMM. The activity of this world's first Centre was officially inaugurated on the 8th of June, 2017, during a ceremonial session at the International Congress Centre in Katowice, accompanied by a workshop organized at the Upper Silesian Branch of PGI-NRI in Sosnowiec.

The activity in the International Group of Experts on Methane and in the presidium of the International Centre of Excellence for Coal Mine Methane perfectly fits in the activities of Janusz Jureczka, Ph.D., conducted in the recent years, mainly dealing with the issues of coalbed methane, and in particular - the pre-exploitation methane capturing by means of directional boreholes drilled from the ground surface, in an innovative approach which has not been used in Polish mines so far.

In 2013-2015, Jureczka. Ph.D., led the project of methane capture through directional wells at the Mysłowice-Wesoła Coal Mine. In 2016-2017, together with PGNiG, he implemented methods of methane capture using hydraulic fracturing as a stimulator of gas inflow in boreholes in Gilowice in Upper Silesia (Geo-Methane project). At present Jureczka, Ph.D., is leading the works of the team from the Upper Silesian Branch in the scope of estimation of methane resources from closed mines and possibilities of its exploitation.

Janusz Jureczka, Ph.D., actively participates in the work of the International Methane Expert Group in Geneva and in conferences, symposia and workshops on coalbed methane at home and abroad, including Colombia, Turkey, China, and India. Since 2018, he has also co-organized international sessions on methane as part of the School of Underground Exploitation in Krakow.

Translated by: Tomasz Trzpil