Global hotspots in site-specific power plant particulate matter emission impacts

Motivation Airborne particulate matter (PM) causes severe health impacts globally. Especially small particles below a size of 2.5 micrometres enter human lungs and cause respiratory diseases and lung cancer. In 2013, roughly... [ view full abstract ]

Motivation 

Airborne particulate matter (PM) causes severe health impacts globally. Especially small particles below a size of 2.5 micrometres enter human lungs and cause respiratory diseases and lung cancer. In 2013, roughly 460'000 Europeans died prematurely due to particulate matter inhalation. Thus, in addition to the impact on individuals, the loss of human health due to PM emissions becomes a major social burden due to treatment of diseases and decrease of workforce. Combustion of fossil resources by power plants is a main contributor to the production and formation of PM. Emission limits for those are typically set nation-wide or based on the age of power plants. In the present work, PM emissions have been re-assessed based on the local harm these emissions cause and the external costs those are associated with.

Methods 

A detailed inventory of fossil fuel power plants has been developed in this work. Main data sources were the PLATTS World Electric Power Plant (WEPP) database for technical specifications, national pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTRs), fuel data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and flue gas treatment performance data from various publications. Supply chain modelling has been based on site-specific, country-level and province-level transport data. With these, a global inventory of site-specific emissions of main pollutants contributing to particulate matter formation (PM 2.5, NOx, SO2) has been created. These emissions will be multiplied by regional characterization factors calculated from archetypical characterization factors by the UNEP SETAC Life Cycle Initiative which are to be published at the end of 2016 and intake fractions for major global cities given in Apte et al., 2012. Preliminary results and conclusions have been drawn from the country-level PM characterization factors provided by LC-Impact. 

Results and conclusions 

The preliminary results outline the different regional health impacts for the same amount of particulate matter emissions around the world in addition to the high variability in PM emissions per MJ electricity generated. Thereby it is confirmed that a high regional resolution in inventories and impact assessment methods is mandatory for comprehensive assessments. Priorities for PM abatement are BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China) since their energy demand is increasing rapidly, while flue gas treatment is not yet applied to the full extend. Among these nations, China and India have implemented strict regulations for particulate emissions recently, while Russia is lagging behind. Comparison of the most polluting power plant units shows that the population in China and India is more impacted by PM than the other nations and hence these countries need to further decrease emissions. Therefore, these countries in particular are advised to consider switching fuels to other, less PM-emitting options. However, airborne PM is also an important health problem in industrialized nations like in the EU where 460'000 people died prematurely from PM emissions in 2013. Additional reduction measures are required there, too.