Carbon mitigation and health effects of fleet electrification in China’s Yangtze River Delta
Fleet electrification is one of the most promising strategies to mitigate carbon emissions and improve air quality. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the currently unclear CO2 mitigation and human health benefits from electric vehicle (EV) adoption and energy decarbonization in the Yan...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Environment International |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412023004762 |
| _version_ | 1797659907856531456 |
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| author | Yijing Zhu Yifan Liu Xiang Liu Haikun Wang |
| author_facet | Yijing Zhu Yifan Liu Xiang Liu Haikun Wang |
| author_sort | Yijing Zhu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Fleet electrification is one of the most promising strategies to mitigate carbon emissions and improve air quality. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the currently unclear CO2 mitigation and human health benefits from electric vehicle (EV) adoption and energy decarbonization in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region by integrating fleet modeling, emission projection, air quality modeling and health risk assessment. Based on future socioeconomic trajectories, we project that the total vehicle stock in the YRD region will peak at 107–117 million around 2045–2050. The transition to EVs combined with largely renewable energy in the YRD region can potentially reduce CO2 emissions by 870 Tg in 2060 and brings along substantial health co-benefits with ∼360 avoided premature deaths per million from reduced PM2.5 and O3 concentrations. This study further explores the NO2-attributable burden from road transportation and reveals that fleet electrification could yield greater NO2-attributable health benefits than those from reduced PM2.5 and O3, especially in traffic-dense urban areas. Those findings indicate that China’s near-term energy development plans (35% renewable energy) have created the conditions for large-scale EV adoption. Our results imply that the benefits of EVs exhibit substantial spatial heterogeneity, underscoring the importance of region-specific EV incentive policies, and hint that policymakers should prioritize densely populated megacities to maximize the potential for public health gains. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T18:22:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-56f19d5c22cc4377bb34dfc9b1832a61 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0160-4120 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T18:22:59Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environment International |
| spelling | doaj.art-56f19d5c22cc4377bb34dfc9b1832a612023-10-15T04:36:27ZengElsevierEnvironment International0160-41202023-10-01180108203Carbon mitigation and health effects of fleet electrification in China’s Yangtze River DeltaYijing Zhu0Yifan Liu1Xiang Liu2Haikun Wang3Joint International Research Laboratory of Atmospheric and Earth System Sciences, School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, ChinaJoint International Research Laboratory of Atmospheric and Earth System Sciences, School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, ChinaJoint International Research Laboratory of Atmospheric and Earth System Sciences, School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Climate Change, Nanjing 210023, China; Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; Corresponding author at: Joint International Research Laboratory of Atmospheric and Earth System Sciences, School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.Fleet electrification is one of the most promising strategies to mitigate carbon emissions and improve air quality. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the currently unclear CO2 mitigation and human health benefits from electric vehicle (EV) adoption and energy decarbonization in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region by integrating fleet modeling, emission projection, air quality modeling and health risk assessment. Based on future socioeconomic trajectories, we project that the total vehicle stock in the YRD region will peak at 107–117 million around 2045–2050. The transition to EVs combined with largely renewable energy in the YRD region can potentially reduce CO2 emissions by 870 Tg in 2060 and brings along substantial health co-benefits with ∼360 avoided premature deaths per million from reduced PM2.5 and O3 concentrations. This study further explores the NO2-attributable burden from road transportation and reveals that fleet electrification could yield greater NO2-attributable health benefits than those from reduced PM2.5 and O3, especially in traffic-dense urban areas. Those findings indicate that China’s near-term energy development plans (35% renewable energy) have created the conditions for large-scale EV adoption. Our results imply that the benefits of EVs exhibit substantial spatial heterogeneity, underscoring the importance of region-specific EV incentive policies, and hint that policymakers should prioritize densely populated megacities to maximize the potential for public health gains.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412023004762Electric vehicleRenewable energyCO2 emissionsAir pollutionHealth benefits |
| spellingShingle | Yijing Zhu Yifan Liu Xiang Liu Haikun Wang Carbon mitigation and health effects of fleet electrification in China’s Yangtze River Delta Environment International Electric vehicle Renewable energy CO2 emissions Air pollution Health benefits |
| title | Carbon mitigation and health effects of fleet electrification in China’s Yangtze River Delta |
| title_full | Carbon mitigation and health effects of fleet electrification in China’s Yangtze River Delta |
| title_fullStr | Carbon mitigation and health effects of fleet electrification in China’s Yangtze River Delta |
| title_full_unstemmed | Carbon mitigation and health effects of fleet electrification in China’s Yangtze River Delta |
| title_short | Carbon mitigation and health effects of fleet electrification in China’s Yangtze River Delta |
| title_sort | carbon mitigation and health effects of fleet electrification in china s yangtze river delta |
| topic | Electric vehicle Renewable energy CO2 emissions Air pollution Health benefits |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412023004762 |
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