POTENTIAL OPTIONS TO REDUCE GHG EMISSIONS IN VENEZUELA

This paper presents a summary of the technologies and practices that c ould be implemented in Venezuela in order to contribute to both climat e change mitigation and national development efforts. The mitigation a nalysis concentrates an options to reduce CO2 emissions generated from the energy sector and land-use change. From the mitigation options an alyzed for the energy sector it was determined that the most effective are those in the transportation sector (switching to larger capacity vehicles, reduced private vehicle share, and switching fuels for publi c transportation from gasoline to natural gas), both in terms of contr ibution to emissions reduction and costs. Regarding the options for in dustry, boilers conversion from liquids to natural gas shows negative cost, but to a considerably lower extent that for the transportation s ector. Efficiency improvements of natural gas boilers, which presents close to zero cost, is more effective in reducing emissions than boile r conversion. Increase in hydro power generation is the alternative wi th the highest total cost but it is very effective in reducing emissio ns. From the mitigation options analyzed for land-use change, if was e stablished that the forest sector has a considerable potential for red ucing CO2 emissions through the adoption of sustainable forest practic es, especially by slowing the rate of forest loss and degradation. Mai ntenance of already existing biomass in natural forests should be the first priority of forest measures to reduce the amount of carbon relea sed to the atmosphere. Forest protection and management of native fore st represent the two options with the highest carbon conservation pote ntial and the lowest carbon unit cost. Expansion of the forest cover t hrough the development of intensive forest plantations also presents a high potential to offset carbon emissions in Venezuela. An analysis o f the barriers to mitigation options implementation shows that in the energy sector, low energy prices represent the main barrier to any mit igation program. Another important limitation to mitigation strategies implementation is the lack of institutional capacity and legal instru ments for developing the mitigation measures. In the forest sector the primary causes of forest clearing in the country are not related to f orest activities, so the definition of feasible mitigation options wil l depend upon a good understanding of other economic sectors and how t hey account for land-use change. Land tenure, rural poverty, political interests, and weak implementation of land-use planning instruments a nd environmental laws are considered to be the key limitations to any effort dealing with forest conservation. Land tenure, economic factors , and lack of incentives represent some of the most important barriers to the development of forest plantations and agroforestry systems in the country. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.