Environmental Quality and the U.S. Power Sector: Air Quality, Land Use and Environmental Justice

Abstract

This report is a DOE EPSA product prepared by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and is part of a series of "baseline" reports intended to inform the second installment of the Quadrennial Energy Review (QER 1.2). QER 1.2 will provide a comprehensive review of the nation's electricity system and covers the current state and key trends related to the electricity system, including generation, transmission, distribution, grid operations and planning, and end use. The baseline reports provide an overview of elements of the electricity system.To help understand how the energy systems might develop into the future under Business as Usual (BAU) conditions QER 1.

Improved asthma outcomes observed in the vicinity of coal power plant retirement, retrofit and conversion to natural gas

“…In 2014, US power plants accounted for 64% of SO 2 , 14% of NO x , and 7% of PM 2.5 economy-wide emissions, with coal power comprising 98% of SO 2 and >82% of NO x and PM 2.5 power plant emissions. 2 Exposure to these air pollutants, even at relatively low levels, have been associated with asthma morbidity. 7 , 8 , 10 , 36 Four main mechanisms–oxidative stress; airway remodeling; inflammation or immunological response; and enhanced response to inhaled allergens 37 –likely explain how air pollution contributes to asthma onset and exacerbation.…”

“…In a 2017 report for the U.S. Department of Energy, Massetti and colleagues characterized SO 2 as the main source of air pollution-related economic damage associated with coal-fired power plants due to its high volume of emissions and because SO 2 is a PM 2.5 precursor. 2 Among populations living close to coal-fired power plants, SO 2 has been associated with wheeze and asthma prevalence, 13 , 40 asthma attacks, and ERVs, 12 , 15 , 16 though it is likely that other pollutants play a role. Coal electricity generation contributes to anthropogenic PM 2.5 levels (which accounts for 1-3% of all asthma-related ERVs in the Americas 41 ) and NO 2 exposures (which may cause 19% of asthma incidence in high-income countries 42 ).…”

“…In 2015, they produced 6 trillion megawatt (MW) hours and 25% of the global supply. 1 Simultaneously, coal-fired power plants emit air pollution, including 63% of U.S economy-wide sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) emissions in 2014, 2 as well as nitrogen oxides (NO x ), particulate matter (PM 2.5 and PM 10 ), mercury, acid gases, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and volatile organic compounds. 3 Such pollutants have been associated with increased asthma symptoms, emergency room visits (ERVs), hospitalizations, and mortality.…”

“…Between 2000–2015 in the U.S., 49.5 GW of capacity from coal-fired generators retired at 146 coal-fired power plants 1 , 20 and many generating units installed flue-gas desulfurization systems (alternatively, SO 2 emission “controls”) to comply with regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and individual states, including the Acid Rain Program, the Clean Air Interstate Rule, and Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. 2 The discrete nature of these energy transitions and the ensuing abrupt changes in emissions present circumstances for a “natural experiment” to study related changes in health in the timeframe and population exposed to emissions from the coal-fired power plants. 21 , 22 The key feature is that the transition-induced change in exposure occurs for reasons unrelated to a health investigation and produce exposure changes that more closely resemble an experiment than a typical observational study.…”

How to Comply with the Paris Agreement Temperature Goal: Global Carbon Pricing According to Carbon Budgets

“…The annual consumption of ozone depleting substances (ODS) was reduced by more than 99% from 1986 (>1.3 Mt/year) to 2016, and the reduction can be approximately described by a logistic function [11,12]; • Sulphur dioxide emissions in Europe were reduced by 74% between 1990 and 2011 approximately exponentially [13], and sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and mercury emissions were reduced in the USA roughly along logistic functions [14].…”