Australian Regulator Finds Emissions Misreporting By Coalminer Peabody

"US giant agrees to hire auditors after calculation errors, poor record-keeping and inconsistent data collection discovered".

"US coalmining giant Peabody Energy has repeatedly submitted incorrect greenhouse gas emissions reports to the Australian government, prompting questions about the reliability of national climate data based on company assessments.

The Clean Energy Regulator found Peabody had a history of filing inaccurate reports required under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act due to calculation errors, poor record-keeping and inconsistent data collection and analysis.

The mistakes were in both directions, leading to significant under- and over-reporting of emissions from the underground Wambo coalmine in New South Wales. The total error was large – when added up, out by more than 51% of the total emissions from the site – but the under- and over-reporting largely cancelled each other out. It meant the submitted total was 5.4% lower than what it should have been."

Adam Morton reports for the Guardian January 30, 2022.

Source: Guardian, 01/31/2022