Coal’s 42 billion health toll
Emissions from coal power plants are seriously bad for your health, according to new research. European medical NGO the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) says European governments are spending billions on treating patients whose illness can be linked with emissions from coal power plants and asks policymakers to put end an apparent revival in EU coal use.
We take a look at the health implications and economic effects of burning coal and ask what they mean for the EU’s energy policy.
Health impacts of coal
Coal plants emit chemicals such as nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide and tiny airborne particles, which can be harmful to humans.
In its report, HEAL – an organisation that represents European medical experts on environmental issues – looks at evidence that coal plant emissions can cause and worsen a variety of health problems, summarised in the image below:
Source: Health and Environment Alliance, The unpaid health bill – How coal power plants make us sick report
Previous studies have come up with some startling figures for the health toll from coal emissions: 13,200 people are estimated to die per year in the US, with over 100,000 deaths per year in India due to coal plant emissions.
In Europe, HEAL estimates emissions from coal plants contribute to more than 18,200 premature deaths each year. The pyramid below summarises the full range of health impacts according to HEAL’s assessment:
Source: Health and Environment Alliance, The unpaid health bill – How coal power plants make us sick report
And the report says the health impacts are likely to worsen as the climate changes. For example HEAL cites the European Respiratory Society which finds respiratory patients could be two to three more times more likely to be admitted to hospital or die due to a one degree temperature rise.
HEAL is particularly concerned because coal emits high levels of carbon dioxide – and some European countries generated up to 50 per cent more electricity from coal this year than last. As more coal is burned, there is likely to be more warming, intensifying the possible health impacts.
Health costs of coal
The additional health problems from coal plant emissions translate into large economic costs, the report says. It estimates the economic impact of coal power generation on people’s health could be up to about â?¬42 billion per year in Europe.
To work this out, HEAL calculates how much people are willing to pay to reduce the risk of death – known as the value of a statistical life. For instance, if individuals are willing to pay an average of $2,000 to reduce the chance of death by 1 in 1000, collectively they are willing to pay $2,000 multiplied by 1000 – $2 million – to prevent one statistical death. Estimates of how long potential victims may live for are then added to the equation to work out an annual cost.
The table below shows HEAL’s estimated cost for each aspect of the health impacts from coal plant emissions:
Image - Chronic illness table (note)Source: European Environment Agency, Revealing the costs of air pollution from industrial facilities in Europe report, table A1.3
The report estimates the total economic cost to the UK to be between one and almost â?¬4 four billion per year – equivalent to £50 per person. Poland is the hardest-hit EU economy overall – with an estimated cost of up to about â?¬8 billion a year. Serbia is calculated to be spending the most per person – about â?¬680 per year.
The report says coal’s high health and economic costs mean the EU should abandon it once and for all as an energy source, ending the construction of new plants and phasing out old ones.
Policy impact
But coal power plants are only part of the puzzle.
The report was released on the same day the UK was in court having admitted breaching EU regulations on air quality with the bulk of the damage done by diesel fumes from cars, not coal plants – an issue HEAL doesn’t address.
Senior researcher at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Dr Fabian Wagner, tells Carbon Brief that while the report uses well-respected data sources and methods, coal power plants won’t be the real problem in the future.
Wagner argues emissions from industry will play a much larger role in damaging health than the emissions from power plants.
This is largely because the EU already has a number of policies in place to phase out coal as an energy source. For instance, the Large Combustion Plants Directive (LCPD) requires all existing coal plants to either retrofit with technology to scrub their emissions, or significantly reduce the number of hours they operate.
And the LCPD will be regulated through the EU’s Industrial Emissions Directive from 2016 which will continue to force around 50,000 high polluting installations to reduce their harmful emissions in the coming years.
Exeter University low carbon energy specialist, Dr Matthew Lockwood, tells us he doubts whether the report “will have much impact on policy” because the health costs associated with coal are actually quite small compared to other areas needing invesstment. He says:
“The health costs represent around 0.3 per cent of EU gross domestic product and avoiding them would also have costs.”
More of the same
The report provides a stark reminder of the harm burning coal can do to populations. While the European Union already has plans to move away from coal, HEAL wants it to go further – including scrapping plans to build 50 new coal plants currently in development. Even if experts say other sources of pollution cause more health problems in Europe, the report still shows how dangerous an investment coal can be – with harmful effects for both citizens and the economy.