Abatement cost
The cost of avoiding a unit of greenhouse gas emissions relative to a defined alternative.
Example
Some methane measures recover saleable gas that offsets expenditure.
The catch
Prices, financing, site conditions and the comparison baseline affect the estimate.
Related terms
Greenhouse gas, Methane, Additionality, Baseline scenario, Beyond value chain mitigation, Buffer pool
In more depth
Abatement cost, explained.
Abatement cost is usually quoted per tonne of CO₂e, found by netting savings and revenue against a measure's costs and dividing by the emissions it prevents over its working life. Analysts rank options from cheapest to dearest on a marginal abatement cost curve, which gives a rough order of attack. A negative value means the measure pays for itself.
Discount rates and the chosen global warming potential both shift the figure. A methane measure looks cheaper per tonne under GWP20 than under GWP100, because each tonne of methane counts as more CO₂e over the shorter horizon. A low number also guarantees nothing about delivery. Cheap options can sit untouched for years when nobody owns the problem, the upfront capital is missing or the savings land with someone else.