Integrated analysis of energy-pollution-health nexus for sustainable energy planning

Abstract

In recent years, the emission of various pollutants has caused many problems for human life and the ecosystem. The prioritization between different air pollution control scenarios is a challenge between scientists and policy-makers. This study develops an integrated method for sustainable energy planning considering the energy-pollution-health nexus. The paper investigates three main pollutants (i.e., PM2.5, SO2, and NOx) of different emission sources (i.e., industrial, residential, and intra-city and suburban transportations) in twelve scenarios. The American Meteorological Society/Environmental Protection Agency Regulatory Model (AERMOD) is applied to model the air pollution dispersion, and Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program - Community Edition (BenMAP-CE) is used for the health effect assessment. Also, the health and economic benefits of the scenarios are estimated for a region in Qazvin, I. R. Iran. Finally, the trades-off between the health benefits of cleaner ambient air and the economic benefits of energy scenarios are carefully studied for prioritizing the scenarios. The results show the scenarios of thermal efficiency enhancement of gas heaters and converting 30% of gasoline cars to CNG-burning cars in the intra-city transportation sector are the most appropriate scenarios to reduce pollution according to the net profit (about 8 and 6.3 million USD, respectively) while the scenario of reducing 10% of industrial production is the worst scenario according to this criterion (−46.4 million USD). Accordingly, the results emphasize that the closure of industrial plants to control air pollution should be stopped because it has high economic loss while its health benefit is inconsiderable in the region. The framework and results of the present paper are helpful for policy-makers, managers, and authorities to develop sustainable energy planning.