Global Mitigation of Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases

Since non-CO₂ greenhouse gases can be relatively inexpensive to reduce compared to carbon dioxide (CO₂), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has focused on incorporating international non-CO₂ greenhouse gas mitigation into analysis and policy discussions. ICF prepared a global cost analysis of all non-CO₂ greenhouse gases for EPA (EPA Report 430-R-06-005) using a bottom-up, engineering cost approach. The results of this analysis are marginal abatement curves (MAC) that reflect aggregated break-even prices for implementing mitigation options in a given sector and region. The MACs allow for improved understanding of the mitigation potential for non-CO₂ sources, as well as inclusion of non-CO₂ greenhouse gas mitigation in economic modeling of multigas mitigation strategies.