Bright Minds
Improving marginal abatement cost curves for greenhouse gases
Department: IMEW (Environmental Science)
Research group: Energy & Resources
Description: Marginal abatement cost curves (MACCs) are often used by policy makers and companies to
assess carbon abatement technologies in terms of greenhouse gas emission reduction potential and
specific costs per tonne of CO2eq mitigated. In many cases the curves are developed for multiple sectors
and interaction between the greenhouse gas abatement options exists both within and between sectors.
These occur e.g. when measures influence the same type of emissions (e.g. when applying insulation and
double glazing), when a measure has impacts on several types of energy use (e.g. replacing a gasoline car
by an electric car) or when measures compete (low carbon electricity generation options). There are
several methods to take into account or correct for the interaction between options.
The activities of this Assistantship are to evaluate:
(1) which types of interactions exist between options
(2) how these interactions are dealt with in MACCs in literature
(3) which other options there are to deal with the interactions and which would give most accurate results
and why (e.g. decomposition analysis for allocating emission reduction to individual measures).
The project will help to tackle the inherent methodological challenges of MACCs.
Job Requirements: Experience with the construction of costs curves for GHG emissions reduction
measures