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Marginal Abatement Cost Curves for UK Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Author(s) -
Moran Dominic,
Macleod Michael,
Wall Eileen,
Eory Vera,
McVittie Alistair,
Barnes Andrew,
Rees Robert,
Topp Cairistiona F. E.,
Moxey Andrew
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.157
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1477-9552
pISSN - 0021-857X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1477-9552.2010.00268.x
Subject(s) - marginal abatement cost , greenhouse gas , agriculture , shadow price , marginal cost , natural resource economics , economics , environmental science , agricultural economics , livestock , forestry , mathematics , geography , ecology , mathematical optimization , biology , microeconomics , archaeology
This article addresses the challenge of developing a ‘bottom‐up’ marginal abatement cost curve (MACC) for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from UK agriculture. An MACC illustrates the costs of specific crop, soil and livestock abatement measures against a ‘business as usual’ scenario. The results indicate that in 2022 under a specific policy scenario, around 5.38 Mt CO 2 equivalent (e) could be abated at negative or zero cost. A further 17% of agricultural GHG emissions (7.85 Mt CO 2 e) could be abated at a lower unit cost than the UK Government’s 2022 shadow price of carbon [£34 (tCO 2 e) −1 ]. The article discusses a range of methodological hurdles that complicate cost‐effectiveness appraisal of abatement in agriculture relative to other sectors.