Quantile estimation of CO2 marginal abatement cost across emission-generating technologies

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Hauptverfasser: Delnava, Haleh, Dai, Sheng
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Delnava, Haleh
Dai, Sheng
author_facet Delnava, Haleh
Dai, Sheng
contents Marginal abatement cost (MAC) is a critical metric for designing efficient and cost-effective mitigation policies. However, existing MAC estimates are typically derived under different assumptions about emission-generating technologies, yet few studies have systematically compared these technologies. Moreover, conventional estimators often exhibit biases arising from limited abatement options, production inefficiencies, and data noise. To address these limitations, this paper analyzes the abatement behavior of three emission-generating technologies: by-production, joint disposability, and weak G-disposability, each consistent with the material balance principle. We employ both full and quantile frontier estimation methods to identify optimal abatement strategies. Using data from U.S. coal-fired power plants in 2022, the empirical results suggest that reducing electricity output, rather than cutting emission-generating inputs such as fossil fuels, provides a more cost-effective mitigation pathway. Furthermore, Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that the quantile estimator consistently delivers more accurate results than the full frontier estimator.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_11912
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Quantile estimation of CO2 marginal abatement cost across emission-generating technologies
Delnava, Haleh
Dai, Sheng
Applications
Marginal abatement cost (MAC) is a critical metric for designing efficient and cost-effective mitigation policies. However, existing MAC estimates are typically derived under different assumptions about emission-generating technologies, yet few studies have systematically compared these technologies. Moreover, conventional estimators often exhibit biases arising from limited abatement options, production inefficiencies, and data noise. To address these limitations, this paper analyzes the abatement behavior of three emission-generating technologies: by-production, joint disposability, and weak G-disposability, each consistent with the material balance principle. We employ both full and quantile frontier estimation methods to identify optimal abatement strategies. Using data from U.S. coal-fired power plants in 2022, the empirical results suggest that reducing electricity output, rather than cutting emission-generating inputs such as fossil fuels, provides a more cost-effective mitigation pathway. Furthermore, Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that the quantile estimator consistently delivers more accurate results than the full frontier estimator.
title Quantile estimation of CO2 marginal abatement cost across emission-generating technologies
topic Applications
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.11912