A new study says that if the world is strategic about which power plants we retire early and which ones we regulate, we could cut fossil fuel emissions while improving air quality in the short term.
The public health policies could save up to 12 million lives and avoid 18 percent of future CO2 emissions.
The estimates are based on real-world data from 2010 to the present. There were more than one million premature deaths each year that were related to air pollution from fossil fuel plants during this eight-year period.
China, India, and nations in Southeast Asia accounted for 92 percent of the deaths. The Middle East and Africa had the most power plant pollution-related deaths.
These are the regions of the world where power plants are the newest, the least efficient, and the least regulated. The energy demand in these parts is growing fast.
In India, power plant emissions are projected to double between 2010 and 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266
New models suggest that we could substantially reduce the health burden under the same climate-energy and clean air pathway by the year 2050.
Air pollution-related deaths will not drop significantly until about halfway through the century, according to the most ambitious climate mitigation strategies. Millions of people are expected to die from bad air in Asia.
Researchers think we could avoid many deaths if we targeted the most polluted power plants.
The Middle East, India, and Africa are the places where the biggest power plants are today.
Coal-fired power plants have historically been the worst offenders for both the climate and our health. In 2010, these specific energy plants were responsible for 80 percent of all power-related air pollution deaths, despite contributing less than half of the world's energy output.
The benefits to public health could be seen immediately if these coal-fired plants are retired early, made more efficient, or have carbon capture technology installed.
The health benefits of ambitious climate targets which occur mostly after 2030 can be mitigated by the deployment of pollution control technologies.
In the near-term, widespread deployment of strong pollution controls can mostly avoid increases in PM 2.5 deaths.
We can still improve human health in the short term even if energy demands continue to increase, populations continue to grow and age, and climate change is limited.
There are benefits to human health and the health of the planet from policies that keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
If power plants are only regulated more strictly, models suggest up to 6 million pollution-related deaths could be avoided between 2010 and 2050.
If power plants are retired early, there will be 12 million deaths prevented and 278 gigatonnes of carbon emissions avoided.
India suffers 45 percent of the model's pollution-related deaths, while Asia and China take on four-fifths of the rest.
Climate-mitigation policies alone are not enough to save human lives from air pollution, according to the findings.
The extent to which health co-benefits are realized may be determined by pollution controls and strategic retirements of the most-polluting and harmful power plants.
Our planet's health is intertwined with ours.
Nature Climate Change published the study.
