Energy Saving Can Kill: Evidence from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident

Guojun He and Takanao Tanaka ()
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Takanao Tanaka: Division of Social Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

No 2019-67, HKUST IEMS Working Paper Series from HKUST Institute for Emerging Market Studies

Abstract: Following the Fukushima nuclear accident, Japan gradually shut down all its nuclear power plants, causing a country-wide power shortage. In response, the government launched large-scale campaigns that aimed to reduce summer electricity consumption by as much as 15% in some regions. Because electricity use plays a key role in mitigating climate impacts, such policies could potentially damage the population’s health. Exploiting the different electricity- saving targets set by different regions, we show that the reduction in electricity consumption indeed increased heat-related mortality, particularly during extremely hot days. This unintended consequence suggests that there exists a trade-off between climate adaptation and energy saving.

Keywords: Electricity Saving; Climate Change Adaptation; Fukushima Accident; Extreme Weather (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I1 O12 Q48 Q54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 61 pages
Date: 2019-09, Revised 2019-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-env and nep-hea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hku:wpaper:201967

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