Solar Energy Health Benefit
Solar power could deliver $400 billion in environmental and public health benefits throughout the United States by 2050. That’s according to a study from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
The report, The Environmental and Public Health Benefits of Achieving High Penetrations of Solar Energy in the United States. It is part also of a series of papers published as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s On the Path to SunShot study.
Monetary Value of Greenhouse Gas
In addition, the total monetary value of the greenhouse-gas and air pollution benefits of the high-penetration solar scenario exceeds $400 billion. That’s in present-value terms under central assumptions. Now just Focus on the existing end-of-2014 fleet of solar power projects. For the recent annual benefits equal more than $1.5 billion under central assumptions.
So the study finds that the 20 gigawatts (GW) of solar installed as of the end of 2014 will do it. For they are already lowering annual GHGs by 17 million metric tons. That’s worth about $700 million per year if valued with a central estimate of the “social cost of carbon. This is according to the Obama Administration’s estimate of the long-term damage done by one ton of carbon emissions. Over half of these benefits come from emissions reductions in California.
Solar reductions in pollutants
Solar is also reducing conventional air pollutants from power plants — sulfur, nitrogen, and particulates — and the corresponding health benefits are greatest in the eastern United States. Overall, the health and environmental benefits of this pollution reduction are worth an estimated $890 million from avoiding premature mortality and a range of other negative health outcomes.
“The East has more coal-fired power generation than the rest of the country, and, therefore, sees greater benefits in reducing conventional pollutants,” Wiser said.
Looking further ahead, with solar growing to 14% of demand by 2030 and 27% by 2050, the study finds GHG reductions of 13% in 2030 and 18% in 2050, compared to a scenario of no new solar. These emission reductions are worth about $259 billion in reduced global climate damages based on central estimates, or 2.2 cents per kWh of solar.
Hitting SunShot goals is also found to reduce sulfur, nitrogen, and particulate emissions, delivering $167 billion in health and environmental benefits, or 1.4 cents per kWh of solar, again based on central estimates. The most notable benefit comes from reducing premature mortality from sulfate particles. Achieving the SunShot Vision scenario reduces premature mortalities by between 25,000 and 59,000 lives, based on methods developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Finally, solar power reduces water use by power plants. Relative to the baseline scenario, achieving the SunShot Vision scenario reduces power-sector water withdrawals by 8% in 2030 and 5% in 2050, while water consumption is reduced by 10% in 2030 and 16% in 2050.
Importantly, states that are sunny, but drought-prone and arid like California and Texas, are among those with the largest reductions in water use.
Source: Smart Grid News, By Barbara Vergetis Lundin
