McKinsey Report: "Reducing US Greenhouse Gases - How much will it cost?"

In a recent study, McKinsey and Company wrote a report outlining the costs of abating greenhouse gas emissions. It makes for interesting reading.

Starting in early 2007, a research team from McKinsey worked with leading companies, industry experts, academics, and environmental NGOs to develop a detailed, consistent fact base estimating costs and potentials of different options to reduce or prevent GHG emissions within the U.S. through 2030. The team analyzed more than 250 options, encompassing efficiency gains, shifts to lower-carbon energy sources, and expanded carbon sinks.

Specifically they looked at:

Emissions from human activity with US borders.

Opportunities with marginal costs less than $50/tonne CO2.

Technological approaches with recognised costs and development paths.

Net captial, operational and maintainance costs.

The following figure is interesting if not predictable.



These are the following options for reducing emissions across 5 clusters.



The conclusions are:



The report contains:

executive summary (PDF - 460 KB)
full report (PDF - 4.11 MB)
video presentation
slideshow (PDF - 7 MB)


H/T: Common Tragedies - a good new blog from research fellows at Resources for the Future. We have just added this blog to our blogroll. Check it out.





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