Non-CO_2 greenhouse gas emission reductions in the EU-15: Reducing the costs of compliance to the Kyoto Protocol

摘要

Emission reduction of Non-CO_2 Greenhouse Gases (NCGGs) can make a significant contribution to the realisation of the Kyoto-target of the European Union. This paper describes the results of a comprehensive study for the European Commission in which those policies and measures were identified that achieve the Kyoto target for the European Union at minimal costs. The study considers all Member States, all greenhouse gases that are part of the Kyoto Protocol (including over 90 reduction options for NCGGs), and all economic sectors, using both a 'bottum-up' (GENESIS) and 'top-down' (PRIMES) approach. The study shows that the potential and costs to reduce emissions are very different in all sectors and for all gases. To reach the Kyoto target cost-effectively to -8% from the 1990 level, some sectors would need to reduce their emissions more than others, but the EU's total compliance costs could be as low as 0.1% of the EU GDP in 2010. If all options with net specific costs of EUD 20 per tonne CO_2-eq. were to be taken, compliance to the -8% Kyoto target for the EU15 could be reached by NCGG emission reductions of 17%, compared to only 5% for energy related CO_2 emissions (compared to a baseline scenario).