Agricultural Offset Potential in the United States: Economic and Geospatial Insights

Although agricultural greenhouse gases (GHGs) are emitted from a wide variety of activities and regions, many mitigation opportunities exist. This article describes efforts undertaken by Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and partners (2007 to present) to convert abatement opportunities into carbon offsets with the aim of reducing GHGs in this sector and providing revenue to landowners. Analyses of emission-abating practices for rice, rangelands and almonds demonstrate that abatement costs are significant for most practices and are accompanied by high break-even carbon prices — often due to high transaction costs. Nonetheless, total abatement potential is shown to be large for certain activities. For this reason, and given the large series of opportunities not yet explored, a focal point of subsequent efforts should be to reduce transaction costs and barriers to entry.