Integrating Air Quality and Public Health Benefits in U.S. Decarbonization Strategies

Abstract

Research on air quality and human health "co-benefits" from climate mitigation strategies represents a growing area of policy-relevant scholarship. Compared to other aspects of climate and energy policy evaluation, however, there are still relatively few of these co-benefits analyses. This sparsity reflects a historical disconnect between research quantifying energy and climate, and research dealing with air quality and health. The air quality co-benefits of climate, clean energy, and transportation electrification policies are typically assessed with models spanning social, physical, chemical, and biological systems. This review article summarizes studies to date and presents methods used for these interdisciplinary analyses. Studies in the peer-reviewed literature (n = 26) have evaluated carbon pricing, renewable portfolio standards, energy efficiency, renewable energy deployment, and clean transportation. A number of major findings have emerged from these studies: [1] decarbonization strategies can reduce air pollution disproportionally on the most polluted days; [2] renewable energy deployment and climate policies offer the highest health and economic benefits in regions with greater reliance on coal generation; [3] monetized air quality health co-benefits can offset costs of climate policy implementation; [4] monetized co-benefits typically exceed the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of renewable energies; [5] Electric vehicle (EV) adoption generally improves air quality on peak pollution days, but can result in ozone dis-benefits in urban centers due to the titration of ozone with nitrogen oxides. Drawing from these published studies, we review the state of knowledge on climate co-benefits to air quality and health, identifying opportunities for policy action and further research.

Climate Change and Air Pollution

“…A recent literature review in 2020, by Gallagher and Holloway, presents evidence from available studies, highlighting that GHG reduction has synergistic benefits of decreasing air pollution and protecting public health (Gallagher and Holloway, 2020). They note that "compared to other aspects of climate and energy policy evaluation, however, there are still relatively few of these cobenefits analyses".…”

Health Benefits from Renewable Electricity Sources: A Review

“…On the other side, especially in low-income countries, the non-CO 2 climate-altering pollutants, also called "traditional air pollutants" [5] (e.g., Ozone (O 3 ), Sulfur Dioxide (SO 2 ), Nitrogen Oxide (NO x ), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO 2 ), Particulate Matter (PM), and Benzene), directly harm human health. According to Smith et al [6], two-fifths of the human population are subject to household air pollution due to inefficient and poor combustion of solid fuels used for cooking and heating.…”

“…According to Smith et al [6], two-fifths of the human population are subject to household air pollution due to inefficient and poor combustion of solid fuels used for cooking and heating. Gallagher and Holloway [5] point out that exposure to health-damaging air pollution is responsible for roughly 4.2 million deaths per year, being the largest environmental impact on human health. These impacts are mainly due to heart attacks, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and acute lower respiratory infections in children [7].…”

“…Chang et al [16] reviewed papers covering modelization of air quality, transportation, and diet co-benefits of climate mitigation. Recently, Gallagher and Holloway [5] reviewed the literature on health quality and health co-benefits of decarbonization strategies in the United States (US) including RES deployment. Climate mitigation strategies can be of several types.…”

“…Covering all options has its advantages, but an in-depth analysis does not exist. Hence, we build on the work of Gallagher and Holloway [5], extending and complementing the analysis. Our contribution to the literature includes several aspects.…”