P3-26-01: What does “hard to abate” mean in practice? (Stage 1)

Project Overview

The transition to net zero emissions increasingly requires policymakers, industry participants and regulators to identify and prioritise emissions sources that are considered difficult to reduce or eliminate. In this context, the terms hard-to-abate, hard-to-electrify, and similar, have become widely used across policy, industry and research literature.

This literature review is intended to provide an evidence base for the development of a practical framework for assessing abatement difficulty. Rather than rely solely on broad sector-based classifications, such a framework could assess the characteristics that contribute to abatement challenges in specific contexts, including technical, economic, operational and infrastructure-related factors. By identifying common themes across the literature, the review aims to support a more transparent and evidence-based understanding of what makes an activity, sector or end use difficult to decarbonise, and how such assessments might be applied consistently across different applications.

Project Details