Improving Human Health in China Through Alternative Energy

Abstract

In this study, we estimate the health benefits of more stringent alternative energy goals and the costs of reducing coal-fired power plant pollution in China projected in 2030. One of our two overarching alternative energy goals was to estimate the health benefits of complete elimination of coal energy, supplemented by natural gas and renewables. The second was a policy scenario similar to the U.S. 2013 Climate Action Plan (CAP), which played a pivotal role leading up to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. We used the Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS) model created by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis for our model simulations. We found that 17,137–24,220 premature deaths can be avoided if coal energy is completely replaced by alternative energy, and 8,693–9,281 premature deaths can be avoided if coal energy is replaced by alternatives in a CAP-like scenario. A CAP-like scenario using emission-controls in coal plants costs $11–18 per person. Reducing coal energy in China under a CAP-like scenario would free up $9.4 billion in the annual energy budget to spend on alternatives, whereas eliminating the cost of coal energy frees up $32 billion. This study's estimates show that more stringent alternative energy targets in China are worth the investment in terms of health.

Large-scale renewable energy brings regionally disproportional air quality and health co-benefits in China

“… 24 , 25 , 26 A broad consensus is that more stringent alternative energy targets in China are worth the investment from the perspective of health co-benefits. 27 However, the temporal and sub-national distributions of investment costs and human health co-benefits from renewable energy deployment remain unclear. Here, we construct two renewable energy scenarios to better characterize the investment costs and socioeconomic benefits of developing renewable energy at the provincial level in China.…”

The 2022 report of synergetic roadmap on carbon neutrality and clean air for China: Accelerating transition in key sectors

“…The optimized selection of low-carbon goods or services in energy, production, and consumption will significantly reduce carbon and air pollutant emissions, thus greatly improving human health. If coal is entirely replaced by renewable energy or natural gas in China's power sector by 2030, up to 17.1–24.2 thousand premature deaths could be avoided [ 100 ]. Further, considering the early retirement of existing power plants, 77.2 thousand premature deaths could be avoided in 2030 [ 88 ].…”

A bibliometric analysis on renewable energy's public health benefits

“…If China were to reduce its reliance on coal energy in a scenario that was analogous to the Climate Action Plan (CAP), this would result in $9.4 billion being made available in the annual energy budget for spending on alternatives. [131]. Word Cloud in Fig.…”