CONSTRUCTING ABATEMENT COST CURVES FOR F-GASES

Scientific research on Greenhouse Gases (GHG) focuses mainly on CO2 emissions. But non-CO2 gases (mainly F-gases in the form of HFCs, PFCs, SF6) are more potent at trapping heat within the atmosphere. Currently, F-gases constitute a small proportion of GHG emissions but they are extremely high Global Warming Potential gases with very high atmospheric lifetimes. They are also expected to increase massively due to expansion of some emitting industries. This study constructs the least-cost curve of F-gases control for the EU-27 and for the year 2020. It seems more cost-effective to abate SF6 first, then PFCs and then control HFCs.