Inequality in air pollution mortality from power generation in India
India’s coal-heavy electricity system is the world’s third largest and a major emitter of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, it remains a focus of decarbonization and air pollution control policy. Considerable heterogeneity exists between states in India in terms of electricit...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca8bb |
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| author | Shayak Sengupta Sumil K Thakrar Kirat Singh Rahul Tongia Jason D Hill Ines M L Azevedo Peter J Adams |
| author_facet | Shayak Sengupta Sumil K Thakrar Kirat Singh Rahul Tongia Jason D Hill Ines M L Azevedo Peter J Adams |
| author_sort | Shayak Sengupta |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | India’s coal-heavy electricity system is the world’s third largest and a major emitter of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, it remains a focus of decarbonization and air pollution control policy. Considerable heterogeneity exists between states in India in terms of electricity demand, generation fuel mix, and emissions. However, no analysis has disentangled the expected, state-level spatial differences and interactions in air pollution mortality under current and future power sector policies in India. We use a reduced-complexity air quality model to evaluate annual PM _2.5 mortalities associated with electricity production and consumption in each state in India. Furthermore, we test emissions control, carbon tax, and market integration policies to understand how changes in power sector operations affect ambient PM _2.5 concentrations and associated mortality. We find poorer, coal-dependent states in eastern India disproportionately face the burden of PM _2.5 mortality from electricity in India by importing deaths. Wealthier, high renewable energy states in western and southern India meanwhile face a lower burden by exporting deaths. This suggests that as these states have adopted more renewable generation, they have shifted their coal generation and associated PM _2.5 mortality to eastern areas. We also find widespread sulfur emissions control decreases mortality by about 50%. Likewise, increasing carbon taxes in the short term reduces annual mortality by up to 9%. Market reform where generators between states pool to meet demand reduces annual mortality by up to 8%. As India looks to increase renewable energy, implement emissions control regulations, establish a carbon trading market, and move towards further power market integration, our results provide greater spatial detail for a federally structured Indian electricity system. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:48:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8c31bff08a164527b3d34bbf9b222d47 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:48:04Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-8c31bff08a164527b3d34bbf9b222d472023-08-09T15:19:56ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262022-01-0118101400510.1088/1748-9326/aca8bbInequality in air pollution mortality from power generation in IndiaShayak Sengupta0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3329-2973Sumil K Thakrar1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2205-3333Kirat Singh2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5643-7362Rahul Tongia3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6808-7534Jason D Hill4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7609-6713Ines M L Azevedo5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4755-8656Peter J Adams6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0041-058XObserver Research Foundation America , Washington, DC 20036, United States of AmericaDepartment of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota Twin Cities , Minneapolis, MN 55108, United States of AmericaEmmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources, Stanford University , Stanford, CA 94305, United States of AmericaCentre for Social and Economic Progress , New Delhi 110021, IndiaDepartment of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota Twin Cities , St. Paul, MN 55108, United States of AmericaDepartment of Energy Science and Engineering, Stanford University , Stanford, CA 94305, United States of AmericaDepartment of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University , Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States of AmericaIndia’s coal-heavy electricity system is the world’s third largest and a major emitter of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, it remains a focus of decarbonization and air pollution control policy. Considerable heterogeneity exists between states in India in terms of electricity demand, generation fuel mix, and emissions. However, no analysis has disentangled the expected, state-level spatial differences and interactions in air pollution mortality under current and future power sector policies in India. We use a reduced-complexity air quality model to evaluate annual PM _2.5 mortalities associated with electricity production and consumption in each state in India. Furthermore, we test emissions control, carbon tax, and market integration policies to understand how changes in power sector operations affect ambient PM _2.5 concentrations and associated mortality. We find poorer, coal-dependent states in eastern India disproportionately face the burden of PM _2.5 mortality from electricity in India by importing deaths. Wealthier, high renewable energy states in western and southern India meanwhile face a lower burden by exporting deaths. This suggests that as these states have adopted more renewable generation, they have shifted their coal generation and associated PM _2.5 mortality to eastern areas. We also find widespread sulfur emissions control decreases mortality by about 50%. Likewise, increasing carbon taxes in the short term reduces annual mortality by up to 9%. Market reform where generators between states pool to meet demand reduces annual mortality by up to 8%. As India looks to increase renewable energy, implement emissions control regulations, establish a carbon trading market, and move towards further power market integration, our results provide greater spatial detail for a federally structured Indian electricity system.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca8bbIndiaair pollutionelectricitydispatchemissions |
| spellingShingle | Shayak Sengupta Sumil K Thakrar Kirat Singh Rahul Tongia Jason D Hill Ines M L Azevedo Peter J Adams Inequality in air pollution mortality from power generation in India Environmental Research Letters India air pollution electricity dispatch emissions |
| title | Inequality in air pollution mortality from power generation in India |
| title_full | Inequality in air pollution mortality from power generation in India |
| title_fullStr | Inequality in air pollution mortality from power generation in India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Inequality in air pollution mortality from power generation in India |
| title_short | Inequality in air pollution mortality from power generation in India |
| title_sort | inequality in air pollution mortality from power generation in india |
| topic | India air pollution electricity dispatch emissions |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca8bb |
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