Emission reduction of non-CO2 greenhouse gases

The report contains descriptions of the state-of-the-art of the technologies, emission reduction potentials, the costs of emission reduction, and the prospects for further development and (non-technological) constraints. The quantitative information on reduction options was processed in a database, called GENESIS, which can be used to evaluate various reduction technologies in terms of their reduction potential and costs in a reference scenario. Both country and regional data were used for the analysis in this study.

Emissions of methane and nitrous oxide contributed in 1990 worldwide to about 20% of total greenhouse gas emissions (excluding fluorinated gases). Assuming simple trends, 2020 emissions are estimated to grow with about 40%. It is technically feasible to reduce these emissions by 30% compared to 2020 projected emissions and stabilise compared to 1990 emissions. Not for all sectors emission reduction measures have been identified. These numbers may be slightly higher when these sectors are also incorporated. A considerable reduction potential exists in developing countries, especially in the long term.

A large share of the identified reduction options can be regarded as 'economic potential', i.e. the benefits off-set the costs at least. Nevertheless it is unlikely that this 'economic potential' will be fully explored due to a range of barriers, like juridical, cultural barriers, and lack of awareness. For developing regions, also a lack of capital may prohibit implementation of this potential. For CO, NOx and NMVOCs a less detailed analysis was made. These gases are not part of the Kyoto protocol and have high uncertainties with regard to their global warming potentials.