Agriculture and climate change: Potential for mitigation in Spain
Jose Albiac a,*, Taher Kahil b, Eduardo Notivol c, Elena Calvo d
a Department of Agricultural Economics, CITA & IA2, Av. Montañana 930, 50059 Saragossa, Spain
bInternational Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
cDepartment of Forest Resources, CITA & IA2, Av. Montañana 930, 50059 Saragossa, Spain
d Department of Economic Analysis, University of Zaragoza & IA2, Gran Vía 2, Saragossa, Spain
Abstract
Agriculture and forestry activities are one of the many sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but they are also sources of low-cost opportunities to mitigate these emissions compared to other economic sectors. This paper provides a first estimate of the potential for mitigation in the whole Spanish agriculture. A set of mitigation measures are selected for their cost-effectiveness and abatement potential and an efficient mix of these measures is identified with reference to a social cost of carbon of 40 €/tCO2e. This mix of measures includes adjusting crop fertilization and managing forests for carbon sequestration. Results indicate that by using the efficient mix of mit- igation measures the annual abatement potential could reach 10 million tCO2e, which represents 28% of current agricultural emissions in Spain. This potential could further increase if the social cost of carbon rises covering the costs of applying manure to crops. Results indicate also that economic instruments such as input and emission taxes could be only ancillary measures to address mitigation in agriculture. These findings can be used to support the mitigation efforts in Spain and guide policymakers in the design of country-level mitigation strategies.
© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Corresponding author at: Unidad Economia, CITA, Av. Montañana 930, 50059
Saragossa, Spain.
E-mail addresses: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (J. Albiac), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (E. Notivol),
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (E. Calvo).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.03.110
0048-9697/© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
