BEIJING - China's coalbed gas output is expected to reach 17.9 billion cubic meters in 2015, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said Monday.

The NEA aims to use 8.3 billion cubic meters of coalbed gas this year.

The NEA said earlier that China extracted 12.6 billion cubic meters in the first nine months of last year. Coalbed gas output for the whole year is not available, but market estimates put it at around 15 billion cubic meters.

China has stepped up development of renewable and unconventional energy resources in recent years to reduce carbon emissions. It plans to make its annual coalbed gas production reach 40 billion cubic meters in 2020.

China's coalbed gas reserves are estimated at 37 trillion cubic meters, ranking as the third largest in the world after Russia and Canada. However, China's coalbed gas industry is still at its infancy stage due to a lack of advanced exploration techniques.