Greenhouse gas mitigation in Chinese agriculture: Distinguishing technical and economic potentials

Abstract

China is now the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases with 7467 million tons (Mt) carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2 e) in 2005, with agriculture accounting for 11% of this total. As elsewhere, agricultural emissions mitigation policy in China faces a range of challenges due to the biophysical complexity, the heterogeneity of farming systems, and social-economic barriers. Existing research has contributed to improving our understanding of the technical potential of mitigation measures in this sector (i.e. what works). But for policy purposes it is important to convert these measures into a feasible economic potential, which provides a perspective on whether agricultural emissions reduction measures are low cost relative to mitigation measures and overall potential offered by other sectors of the economy. We develop a bottom-up marginal abatement cost curve (MACC) representing the cost of mitigation measures applicable in addition to business-as-usual agricultural practices. The MACC demonstrates that while the sector can offer a maximum technical mitigation potential of 402 MtCO2e in 2020, of which a reduction of 135 MtCO2e is potentially available at zero or negative cost (i.e. a cost saving), and 176 MtCO2e (approximately 44% of the total) can be abated at a cost below a threshold carbon price of ¥ 100 (approximately €12) per tCO2e. Our findings highlight cost-effectiveness of nitrogen fertilizer and manure best management practices, and animal breeding practices. We outline the assumptions underlying MACC construction and discuss some scientific, socioeconomic and institutional barriers to realizing the indicated levels of mitigation.

Greenhouse gas intensity of three main crops and implications for low-carbon agriculture in China

“…Such practices shall be extended to wider areas supported by the MOA. Finally, biochar addition can be beneficial to soil quality and yield increase therefore offering substantial mitigation potential when it becomes economically available (Wang et al 2014). As to CH 4 emissions from rice paddies, upgrading irrigation regimes from mid-season drainage, currently being practiced in most rice cultivation regions, to intermittent irrigation or controlled irrigation, could avoid as much as 1.256 CO 2 e per hectare according to nationwide meta-analysis results (Wang et al 2014).…”

Optimal production resource reallocation for CO2 emissions reduction in manufacturing sectors

“…Although previous studies have analyzed the potential to reduce GHG emissions, most of these studies have focused on the future adoption of new technologies at the national and global levels based on projected scenarios (e.g., Popp et al, 2010;Scovronick and Wilkinson, 2013;Wang et al, 2014). However, they have not considered the optimal production resource allocation to minimize GHG emissions based on current production technology in the manufacturing sector.…”

Study on the Vertical Linkage of Greenhouse Gas Emission Intensity Change of the Animal Husbandry Sector between China and Its Provinces

“…This shows that although the AHGI has been continuously on the decline, there is still a large gap compared with the developed countries, and there is still more room for greater emissions reduction in the future. On the one hand, Wang's research shows that the greatest technical emission reduction potential for China's AH sector will be 253 Mt of CO 2 emission by 2020 [60], accounting for 56.85% of total GHG emissions in 2005 from AH. This shows that the technical means will be important measures to reduce GHG emissions for China's AH sector in the future.…”