Quantifying the health and environmental benefits of wind power to natural gas

McCubbin, Donald R.; Sovacool, Benjamin K.

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2012.11.004

Cited by 52 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…It then quantifies the economic benefits of these GHG reductions based on a range of social cost of carbon (SCC) estimates. These methods are broadly consistent with those used by U.S. regulatory agencies (GAO 2014) and academic researchers (Cullen 2013;Graff Zivin et al 2014;Johnson et al 2013;Kaffine et al 2013;McCubbin and Sovacool 2013;Novan 2014;Siler-Evans et al 2013, Schindell 2015.…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 55%

“…In all cases, only a subset of wind's potential air-pollution benefits are evaluated, focused on SO 2 , NO x , and PM 2.5 . The basic methods applied here are broadly consistent with those used in the broader literature (Cullen 2013;Heeter et al 2014;Johnson et al 2013;Siler-Evans et al 2013;McCubbin and Sovacool 2013;Novan 2014). …”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 53%

“…For example, McCubbin and Sovacool (2013) compare the health and environmental impacts of wind to natural gas, while Yang and Chen (2016) provide a sustainability evaluation of wind power systems. Siler-Evans et al (2013), Buonocore et al (2016), and Cullen (2013) explore these health and climate benefits on a regional basis, while Arent et al (2014) assess a small subset of benefits associated with a high-penetration renewable energy scenario in the U.S. primarily in physical (not financial) terms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Long-term implications of sustained wind power growth in the United States: Potential benefits and secondary impacts

et al. 2016

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We model scenarios of the U.S. electric sector in which wind generation reaches 10% of end-use electricity demand in 2020, 20% in 2030, and 35% in 2050. As shown in a companion paper, achieving these penetration levels would have significant implications for the wind industry and the broader electric sector. Compared to a baseline that assumes no new wind deployment, under the primary scenario modeled, achieving these penetrations imposes an incremental cost to electricity consumers of less than 1% through 2030. These cost implications, however, should be balanced against the variety of environmental and social implications of such a scenario. Relative to a baseline that assumes no new wind deployment, our analysis shows that the high-penetration wind scenario yields potential greenhouse-gas benefits of $85-$1,230 billion in present-value terms, with a central estimate of $400 billion. Air-pollution-related health benefits are estimated at $52-$272 billion, while annual electricsector water withdrawals and consumption are lower by 15% and 23% in 2050, respectively. We also find that a high-wind-energy future would have implications for the diversity and risk of energy supply, local economic development, and land use and related local impacts on communities and ecosystems; however, these additional impacts may not greatly affect aggregate social welfare owing to their nature, in part, as resource transfers.

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Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 55%

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 53%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Long-term implications of sustained wind power growth in the United States: Potential benefits and secondary impacts

et al. 2016

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“…For example, Yang and Chen (2016) evaluate the sustainability of wind power systems. McCubbin and Sovacool (2013) compare the health and environmental impacts of wind to natural gas, Siler-Evans et al (2013), Buonocore et al (2016), and Cullen (2013) explore regional health and climate benefits, while Arent et al (2014) assess a small subset of benefits associated with a high-penetration renewable energy scenario in the U.S.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term implications of sustained wind power growth in the United States: Direct electric system impacts and costs

et al. 2016

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This paper evaluates potential changes in the power system associated with sustained growth in wind generation in the United States to 35% of end-use demand by 2050; Wiser et al. (forthcoming) evaluates societal benefits and other impacts for this same scenario. Under reference or central conditions, the analysis finds cumulative wind capacity of 404 GW would be required to reach this level and drive 2050 incremental electricity rate and cumulative electric sector savings of 2% and 3%, respectively, relative to a scenario with no new wind capacity additions. Greater savings are estimated under higher fossil fuel costs or with greater advancements in wind technologies. Conversely, incremental costs are found when fossil fuel costs are lower than central assumptions or wind technology improvements are more-limited. Through 2030 the primary generation sources displaced by new wind capacity include natural gas and coal-fired generation. By 2050 wind could displace other renewables. Incremental new transmission infrastructure totaling 29 million MW-miles is estimated to be needed by 2050. In conjunction with related societal benefits, this work demonstrates that 35% wind energy by 2050 is plausible, could support enduring benefits, and could result in long-term consumer savings, if nearer-term (pre-2030) cost barriers are overcome; at the same time, these opportunities are not anticipated to be realized in their full form under "business-as-usual" conditions.

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“…Various aspects of our methods to estimate GHG and air pollution benefits build on or complement approaches used by U.S. regulatory agencies (GAO 2014; EPA 2015c) and academic researchers (NRC 2010;Arent et al 2014;Buonocore et al 2016a;Buonocore et al 2016b;Callaway et al 2015;Chiang et al 2016;Cullen 2013;Graff Zivin et al 2014;Driscoll et al 2015;Fann et al 2012;Johnson et al 2013;Kaffine et al 2013;McCubbin and Sovacool 2013;Novan 2014;Rouhani et al 2016;Siler-Evans et al 2013;Shindell 2015). The basic approach used for estimating water use impacts has also been applied in multiple studies Macknick et al 2012;Macknick et al 2015;Rogers et al 2013).…”

Section: Evaluating the Benefits And Impacts Of State Rps And High Rementioning

confidence: 99%

A Prospective Analysis of the Costs, Benefits, and Impacts of U.S. Renewable Portfolio Standards

Mai

Wiser

Barbose

et al. 2016

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PREFACEThis is one report in a series that explores the costs, benefits, and other impacts of state renewable portfolio standards (RPS), both retrospectively and prospectively. The first report, A Survey of State-Level Cost and Benefit Estimates of Renewable Portfolio Standards, published in 2014, comprehensively summarized historical RPS compliance costs, drawing in part on estimates developed by utilities and state regulatory agencies. The study also reviewed analyses of the broader societal benefits and impacts of several states' RPS policies, typically conducted for or by the regulatory agencies or RPS administrators in those states. However, the small number of such studies, and their widely varying methods and scopes, ultimately limited the ability to compare benefits across states or to generalize beyond the specific studies performed. That limitation set the stage for future reports.The second report in the series, A Retrospective Analysis of the Benefits and Impacts of U.S. Renewable Portfolio Standards, published in January 2016, analyzed historical benefits and impacts of renewable energy (RE) used to meet all state RPS policies, in aggregate, employing a consistent and well-vetted set of methods and data sets. The analysis focuses on three specific benefits: air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and water use. It also analyzes three other impacts: gross job additions, wholesale electricity market price suppression, and natural gas price suppression. These are an important subset, but by no means a comprehensive set, of all possible effects associated with RPS policies. That report did not include a comparison of costs and benefits of renewables used to meet RPS policies, and nor did it assess the potential costs, benefits, and impacts prospectively based on future increases in RPS targets.The present report fills that gap by evaluating the future costs, benefits, and other impacts of renewable energy used to meet current state RPS polices. It also examines a future scenario where RPSs are expanded. The analysis examines changes in electric system costs and retail electricity prices, which include all fixed and operating costs, including capital costs for all renewable, non-renewable, and supporting (e.g., transmission and storage) electric sector infrastructure; fossil fuel, uranium, and biomass fuel costs; and plant operations and maintenance expenditures. The analysis uses the same framework as the second report to analyze three specific benefits: air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and water use. It also analyzes two other impacts, RE workforce and economic development, and natural gas price suppression.The terminology applied in this series does not align precisely with the traditional concepts of costs and benefits, but rather is a function of how RPS programs have often been evaluated in practice. This analysis series, particularly the present report, evaluates renewable energy used to meet RPS policies in terms of costs, benefits, and other impacts:• Cost metrics presented in this r...

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Quantifying the health and environmental benefits of wind power to natural gas

Cited by 52 publications

References 36 publications

Long-term implications of sustained wind power growth in the United States: Potential benefits and secondary impacts

Long-term implications of sustained wind power growth in the United States: Potential benefits and secondary impacts

Long-term implications of sustained wind power growth in the United States: Direct electric system impacts and costs

A Prospective Analysis of the Costs, Benefits, and Impacts of U.S. Renewable Portfolio Standards

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