The health benefits of solar power generation: evidence from Chile

Nathaly M. Rivera, J. Cristobal Ruiz-Tagle and Elisheba Spiller

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: Renewable energy can yield social benefits through local air quality improvements and their subsequent effects on human health. We estimate some of these benefits using data gathered during the rapid adoption of large-scale solar power generation in Chile over the last decade. Relying on exogenous variation from solar irradiation and incremental solar generation capacity over time, we find that solar energy displaces coal generation and curtails hospital admissions due to respiratory diseases. These effects are largely manifested in cities downwind of and near coal plants that are displaced by the introduction of new solar. The reduction in exposure to air pollution from these displaced coal plants seems to be driving this relationship. Our results help quantify the health benefits that can be achieved through greater renewable energy investments.

Keywords: coal displacement; coal power plants; developing countries; Latin America; morbidity; pollution; power plants; solar generation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I18 L94 Q42 Q53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 20 pages
Date: 2024-07-01
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Published in Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 1, July, 2024, 126. ISSN: 0095-0696

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