The market potential of large-scale non- CO2 CDM projects

摘要

The Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) allows industrialised countries with emission reduction commitments to generate emission credits though greenhouse gas reduction projects in developing countries.CDM has so far commonly been regarded a mechanism for CO2 reduction projects; however,the bulk of CDM credits could come from non-CO2 reduction projects.The reason is that such projects are large and hence have low transaction costs in relative terms,emissions reduction costs are low,and determining project “additionality”is simple since reducing non-CO2 gases normally does not entail any direct benefits.The reductionof HFC-23 from the production of refrigerant HCFC-22 and the destruction of N2O fromadipic acid production could generate hundreds of millions of emission credits by 2012.Projectscapturing methane from landfills and coal mines or reducing gas flaring from oil production andN2O from nitric acid production yield smaller,but still substantial reductions compared to “classical”renewable energy projects.We assess the technical potential until 2012 for these CDMproject types and discuss potential implementation barriers.Based on a detailed case studyHFC-23,we suggest possible implications for the other project types.Interest groups promotingother project types can stall development of non- CO2 projects; this is already happeningHFC-23 reduction projects.Obtaining host country approval is another potential barrier.China,having a sizeable potential in all non- CO2 project types covered,has already signalled such projectswill have to pay a tax due to their low reduction costs and limited local sustainable developmentbenefits.