Assessment of the External Costs of Life Cycle of Coal: The Case Study of Southwestern China

Xiaonan Wang,Licheng Wang,Shouting Zhang,Paolo Tarolli,Jianping Chen

doi:10.3390/en13154002

Abstract

Coal will continue to be the main energy source in China for the immediate future, although the environmental pollution and ecological impacts of each stage in the full life cycle of coal mining, transportation, and combustion generate large quantities of external costs. The Late Permian coals in southwestern (SW) China usually contain high amounts of fluorine (F), arsenic (As), and ash, which together with high-F clays cause abnormally high levels of endemic fluorosis, As poisoning, and lung cancer in areas where coal is mined and burned. In this paper, we estimate the external costs of the life cycle of coal. The results show that the externalities of coal in SW China are estimated at USD 73.5 billion or 284.3 USD/t, which would have accounted for 6.5 % of the provincial GDP in this area in 2018. The external cost of human health accounts for 87.2% of the total external costs, of which endemic skeletal fluorosis diseases and related lung cancers have the most important impact. Our study provides a more precise estimate of externalities compared with its counterparts in other provinces in China. Therefore, several policy recommendations would be proposed to internalize the external cost.

Highlights

Coal is an important energy source, supplies about 40% of the world’s electricity, and is likely to continue to provide significant amounts of energy in the foreseeable future [1]
Coal production and consumption account for a large proportion of total energy produced in SW China, these have been declining for the past decade (Table 1) in these provinces
The main reason is that we considered endemic diseases in the total external costs for the first time, which are a typical characteristic side-effect of the use of coal in SW China

Summary

Introduction

Coal is an important energy source, supplies about 40% of the world’s electricity, and is likely to continue to provide significant amounts of energy in the foreseeable future [1]. The increasing demand for electricity in southern and southeastern Asia, including China, India, and Indonesia, will continue to cause an increase in the use of coal. Of all energy consumed in China with its production and consumption continuing to grow in recent years [2]. Finding sources of efficient and clean energy is a primary concern when addressing the severe environmental pollution and ecological damage caused by the use of coal energy. The mining, transportation, and combustion of coal are generally harmful to the environment and human health. Inhalation of dust generated during underground mining often causes coal workers’

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Conclusion