The Health Impact and External Cost of Electricity Production

Janusz Zyśk, Artur Wyrwa, Marcin Pluta, Tadeusz Olkuski, Wojciech Suwała and Maciej Raczyński
Additional contact information
Janusz Zyśk: Faculty of Energy and Fuels, AGH University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Artur Wyrwa: Faculty of Energy and Fuels, AGH University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Marcin Pluta: Faculty of Energy and Fuels, AGH University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Tadeusz Olkuski: Faculty of Energy and Fuels, AGH University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Wojciech Suwała: Faculty of Energy and Fuels, AGH University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Maciej Raczyński: Faculty of Energy and Fuels, AGH University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Kraków, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-19

Abstract: The use of fossil fuels, which still dominate global primary energy consumption, results not only in emissions of greenhouse gas but also in emissions of pollutants such as SO 2 , NO x , and PM. Damage caused by air pollution can be expressed in monetary terms in the form of external costs to society. The goal of this paper is to answer the following questions: How much will the energy sector’s emissions change as a result of decarbonization? What is the estimated level of external costs related to human health in future energy scenarios? How large are the estimated external costs compared to the planned investments in this sector? The study conducted for the period 2018–2050 used the impact pathway approach and covered the centralized power and heat generation sector in Poland. The reported values of the concentration–response functions that relate human exposure to air pollution with health impact were reviewed. The results show that external costs decrease from an estimated annual level in the range of EUR 782–1911 million in 2018 to EUR 36–876 million in 2050. The cumulative value of avoided external costs between 2018 and 2050 is significantly lower than the planned capital expenditures in the energy sector in Poland.

Keywords: power sector; health impact; emissions; models; energy scenarios (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/24/8263/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/24/8263/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:24:p:8263-:d:697958

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().