Agriculture abatement cost curve
Notes
20 year
100 year
Select type
of production practice
Animal
protein
Crops
Rice
Energy
Estimated cost of GHG abatement, $/t CO2 eq (GWP AR5 20 year)
500
–250
Technical GHG mitigation potential, MMT CO2 eq (GWP AR5 20 year)
100
Animal protein
Technical appendix (PDF)
Improved fuel efficiency of fishing vessels
–12
Improved animal health monitoring and illness prevention
–5
Feed grain processing for digestibility
–3
GHG-focused breeding and genetic selection
0
Livestock
nutrient use efficiency
0
N-Inhibitors on pasture
15
Animal feed additives
88
Technologies that increase livestock production efficiencies
119
Anaerobic manure digestion
92
Animal feed mix optimization
131
Crops
Technical appendix (PDF)
Variable rate fertilization
–176
Reduced N over-application in
China and India
–97
Low or no
tillage
–41
Improved equipment maintenance
–34
Nitrogen-fixing rotations
0
Controlled-release and stabilized fertilizers
65
Improved
fertilization
timing
40
Conversion from flood to drip/sprinkler irrigation
147
Speciality crop nutrition amendments
523
Rice
Technical appendix (PDF)
Improved rice straw management
–8
Dry direct seeding
–41
Improved fertilization
of rice
3
Improved rice paddy water management
–12
Energy
Technical appendix (PDF)
Zero-emissions
on-farm machinery and equipment
–229
Select type
of production practice
Animal
protein
Crops
Rice
Energy
Estimated cost of GHG abatement, $/t CO2 eq (GWP AR5 100 year)
Technical GHG mitigation potential, MMT CO2 eq (GWP AR5 100 year)
500
100
–250
Improved fuel efficiency of fishing vessels
–12
Animal protein
Feed grain processing for digestibility
–8
Improved animal health monitoring and illness prevention
–5
Livestock nutrient use efficiency
0
GHG-focused breeding
and genetic selection
0
N-inhibitors on pasture
15
Animal feed mix optimization
131
Technologies that increase livestock production efficiencies
119
Animal feed additives
263
Anaerobic manure digestion
277
Crops
Technical appendix (PDF)
Variable rate fertilization
–176
Reduced N over-application in China and India
–97
Low-/no-tillage
–43
Improved equipment maintenance
–34
Nitrogen-fixing rotations
0
Improved fertilization timing
40
Controlled release and stabilized fertilizers
65
Conversion from
flood to drip/sprinkler irrigation
146
Specialty crop nutrition amendments
521
Rice
Technical appendix (PDF)
Improved rice straw management
–26
Dry direct seeding
–123
Improved rice paddy water management
–35
Improved fertilization
of rice
9
Energy
Technical appendix (PDF)
Zero-emissions
on-farm machinery and equipment
–236
The horizontal axis reflects greenhouse gas mitigation potential
for each lever; the vertical axis displays the average abatement cost ($/tCO2 equivalent) for each lever.
Elsewhere in our emissions reduction accounting throughout this article, energy is folded into crop and livestock agriculture (~65% in crop, ~35% in livestock).
20 year
100 year
Technical appendix (PDF)
