According to the requirements of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) revised guidelines in 1996, the methane emission from underground mining, open-pit mining and post-mining activities in China was estimated. After deducting the use of methane in methane extraction, the amount of methane discharged into the atmosphere by coal mines was obtained. Users of this dataset should take into account the specific time frame (1994) and regional focus (Northwest China) when utilizing this information. The data represents methane emissions associated with the process of underground coal mining, and it employs the IPCC Revised Guidelines' second method, an average emission factor approach, for calculating methane coefficients. Users should not extrapolate this data to represent other regions or time periods without considering regional variations in mining practices and methane emission factors. The data is suitable for lifecycle assessment studies of coal, especially for determining the climate change impact aspect.