Costs Of Air Pollution Research Articles

Impact of proximity to thermal power plants on housing prices: Capitalizing the hidden costs of air pollution

This study explores the impact of the Taichung Thermal Power Plant in Central Taiwan on the housing prices of surrounding houses and employs empirical data to capitalize the hidden costs of air pollution. This power plant is the fourth largest in the world and operates mainly through coal burning, in addition, the power plant is still under expansion. The operation of such a large-scale power plant influences the surrounding environment. To reasonably evaluate the cost of thermal power generation, this study capitalizes the impact of proximity to thermal power plants on housing prices and proposes evidence indicating that proximity to thermal power plants has a significant effect on decreases in housing prices, and the closer the distance to the thermal power plant, the more housing prices fall. Additionally, the impact of proximity to the thermal power plant on housing prices is greater in areas with high housing prices. The presence of the thermal power plant within 15 km resulted in housing prices dropping by approximately 25%. This study proposes including negative externalities in the costs of thermal power generation to accurately reflect in the power generation costs and energy prices. This would incentivize power plant operators to invest in more environmentally friendly power generation methods and relieve the burden shared by residents living in proximity to the power plant.

Determination of subsidy and emission control coverage under competition and cooperation of China-Europe Railway Express and liner shipping

Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) and Maritime Silk Road (MSR) provide important avenues for cargo transport between China and Europe. This paper addresses the issues of the subsidy for China-Europe Railway Express (CERE) on the SREB and the sulfur emission control for liner shipping on the MSR from a perspective of building a community of shared future for mankind. Two welfare maximization models are proposed for determining the optimal subsidy and the optimal sulfur emission control coverage within which the sulfur in ships’ fuel oil is required to be less than 0.1%. One considers the competition between two transport modes (CERE and liner shipping), in which their own net profit is maximized. The other concerns the cooperation between two modes, in which their total net profit is maximized. The properties of the two models are analytically explored and compared. The results show that intermodal competition outperforms intermodal cooperation in terms of social welfare, consumer surplus, and environmental pollution, though at the cost of carrier profit and total subsidy from the regulator. The regulator may efficiently control the adverse impacts of an increase in the fuel oil price or in the marginal cost of air pollution on the social welfare of the system through adjusting the CERE subsidy and the sulfur emission control coverage.

The short-term impact of air pollution on medical expenditures: Evidence from Beijing

We identify the short-term effects of PM2.5 concentrations on medical costs in Beijing by analyzing two datasets: one detailing daily air quality indexes over a four-year period and the other containing individual-level records of all health care visits and medical transactions that occurred under a government insurance program that covers most city residents. We find that both higher levels of air pollution and longer-lasting pollution episodes significantly increase health care visits and medical expenditures. An analysis of multiple-day pollution episodes shows that marginal health care visits and marginal health costs start to increase as the pollution event lasts for consecutive days. Omitting the variation in the magnitude of the marginal effects of pollution exposure over the course of a pollution episode would lead to the underestimation of the total health costs of air pollution. Our findings provide empirical evidence that both the intensity and the duration of pollution episodes are critical considerations when designing policies to reduce the health costs of air pollution.

Traffic costs of air pollution: the effect of PM2.5 on traffic violation.

Although emerging studies have investigated the effect of air pollution on traffic crashes, it is unclear to scholars whether air pollution affects another road safety problem-traffic violations. To address this gap, the current paper constructs a data set from 1,390,221 traffic violation records of 640,971 drivers from the Wuhan Traffic Management Bureau between January 2018 and December 2018. An ordered logistic regression was conducted to verify our hypotheses. The result shows that PM2.5 has no overall impact on the severity of traffic violations, but each 1% increase in the daily concentration of PM2.5 leads to a 1.02-fold increase in the odds of serious inexperience-related violations and a 0.99-fold decrease in the odds of serious overconfidence-related violations. This effect is the strongest in PM2.5, followed by NO2, and has not been observed in CO and O3. In addition, robustness tests indicate that the relationship between air pollution and traffic violations is consistent among the different subsets (e.g., clear weather, no rain and snow, and good visibility). We also provide valuable practical advice for drivers and traffic authorities.

APEC Ülkelerinde Yenilenebilir Enerji Kaynaklarının Hava Kirliliğinin Refah Maliyetlerini AzaltıcI Rolü

The main purpose of this study is to determine the possible long run impacts of renewable energy supply on the welfare cost of premature deaths caused by air pollution in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries during 1990-2016 by using dynamic panel data techniques. The long run elasticity results showed that the increasing supply of renewable energy sources reduces the welfare cost of air pollution. Empirical findings revealed that clean energy should not just seen as a sustainable energy source but also considered as an efficient way to struggle with possible negative externalities of pollution.

Cost assessment of biomass coal fuel on air pollution and coal consumption reduction

The use of coal as an energy source in the industrial sector has been quite massive, but the negative impact has not been a serious concern. We realized that the use of coal had caused pollution, including air pollution from coal-burning processing and water and soil pollution from the coal solid waste (fly ash and bottom ash), which not be appropriately managed. This study aims to assess the beneficiary of utilizing the unburnt carbon as co-firing in boiler industrial compared with air emission impact—the unburnt carbon mixed with municipal solid waste treated firstly to be briquette. The briquette was called Biomass Coal Fuel (BCF), and it was used as coal substitution of 10-15%. The cost of air pollution calculation referred to the Ministry Environmental Regulation Number 13 of 2011. We have compared the cost of air pollution between before and after BCF substitution. Meanwhile, the beneficiaries were calculated from the reduction of coal consumption. The result showed that emissions cost just approximately 4-5% of the beneficiaries due to reductions in coal consumption that about 145.656 – 218.484 million rupiahs per year. The factory can use this beneficiary to improve air emission controlling and support environmental conservation.

The impact of air pollution on individual subjective well-being: Evidence from China

Linkages between air pollution and individual subjective well-being (SWB) are theorized as a key component of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Using the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) covering 12,668 residents who were interviewed for five consecutive times during 2010–2018, we find significant negative effects of air pollution on individual SWB via the change of the respondent's physical health level, physical exercise behavior and obesity risk. Specifically, a one standard deviation increase in county's annual average PM2.5 concentrations, instrumented by thermal inversion, is associated with a 2.45 standard deviations decrease in individual SWB level. In particular, people who are male, young people, less educated group, urban resident and live in eastern or western China are more sensitive to air pollution. This paper provides new insights into the health costs of air pollution.

The Morbidity Costs of Air Pollution Through the Lens of Health Spending in China

The Morbidity Costs of Air Pollution Through the Lens of Health Spending in China

The Economic Cost of Air Pollution Due to Stubble Burning: Evidence from Delhi

The Economic Cost of Air Pollution Due to Stubble Burning: Evidence from Delhi

The Economic Cost of ill Health due to Air Pollution: Evidence from Greece

Purpose: Air pollution and its adverse health effects result in an economic cost to society. Given that the burden of disease from air pollution is to a large extent preventable, estimation of the magnitude of its economic cost is important. We estimate the economic cost of the health impact from exposure to ground-level ozone, and ambient and household PM2.5 air pollution, as well as their joint effects, in Greece. Design/methodology/approach: We analyze the economic cost of the health impact from air pollution using the Cost-of-Illness (COI) as well as the Willingness to Pay (WTP) approach. Finding: Based on the COI approach, air pollution attributable diseases resulted in a total economic cost of €1.27 billion in 2019, or 0.68 percent of GDP. Under the WTP approach, mortality cost is significantly higher. Research limitations/implications: In spite of some standard methodological limitations, giving a monetary value to the burden of disease from air pollution highlights the significance of curbing air pollution, providing at the same time guidance in prioritizing among various competing policy objectives. Air pollution abatement interventions can yield significant benefits for global health and the economy. Originality/value: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study estimating direct and indirect costs of air pollution-attributable health consequences in Greece, using the most recent data for all specific-cause mortality and morbidity outcomes. Employing two alternative methodologies, COI and WTP, we provide a lower and an upper bound of the economic cost of air pollution, respectively. The COI estimates provide a financial measure of the potential gains (by age and gender) if air pollution were to be extensively mitigated. The WTP estimates are a starting point in a cost-benefit analysis evaluating certain environmental regulation policies. Our results and their policy implications could be a guide to other economies with similar characteristics and comparable air pollution levels with those in Greece.

High spatial resolution effect on ozone pollution modelling: Case study of Agadir city (Morocco)

The degradation cost of air pollution is estimated to be 1.62 percent of Morocco's Gross Domestic Product. Several studies focused on the high-resolution spatial modeling effect. As a result, in this study, we investigated the CHIMERE model performances in Agadir city using two resolutions, C1(0.1°=11 km) and C3 (0.02°=2 km). The numerical results are compared to ozone monitoring data for spring/summer 2010. The results show that the statistical performance improves for the C3, which improves the model's ozone forecasting. Given the seasonal performance differences, future efforts should concentrate on upgrading the quality of input data to provide more accurate information.

Estimating the health and economic burden of shipping related air pollution in the Iberian Peninsula.

Air pollution is the leading cause of the global burden of disease from the environment, entailing substantial economic consequences. International shipping is a significant source of NOx, SO2, CO and PM, which can cause known negative health impacts. Thus, this study aimed to estimate the health impacts and the associated external costs of ship-related air pollution in the Iberian Peninsula for 2015. Moreover, the impact of CAP2020 regulations on 2015 emissions was studied. Log-linear functions based on WHO-HRAPIE relative risks for PM2.5 and NO2 all-cause mortality and morbidity health end-points, and integrated exposure-response functions for PM2.5 cause-specific mortality, were used to calculate the excess burden of disease. The number of deaths and years of life lost (YLL) due to NO2 ship-related emissions was similar to those of PM2.5 ship-related emissions. Estimated all-cause premature deaths attributable to PM2.5 ship-related emissions represented an average increase of 7.7% for the Iberian Peninsula when compared to the scenario without shipping contribution. Costs of around 9 100 million € yr-1 (for value of statistical life approach - VSL) and 1 825 million € yr-1 (for value of life year approach - VOLY) were estimated for PM and NO2 all-cause burden of disease. For PM2.5 cause-specific mortality, a cost of around 3 475 million € yr-1 (for VSL approach) and 851 million € yr-1 (for VOLY approach) were estimated. Costs due to PM and NO2 all-cause burden represented around 0.72% and 0.15% of the Iberian Peninsula gross domestic product in 2015, respectively for VSL and VOLY approaches. For PM2.5 cause-specific mortality, costs represented around 0.28% and 0.06%, respectively, for VSL and VOLY approaches. If CAP2020 regulations had been applied in 2015, around 50% and 30% respectively of PM2.5 and NO2 ship-related mortality would been avoided. These results show that air pollution from ships has a considerable impact on health and associated costs affecting the Iberian Peninsula.

Health Cost Estimation of Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Assessing the Pollution Reduction Potential of Zero-Emission Vehicles in Toronto, Canada

Fossil fuel vehicles, emitting air toxics into the atmosphere, impose a heavy burden on the economy through additional health care expenses and ecological degradation. Air pollution is responsible for millions of deaths and chronic and acute health problems every year, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The fossil-fuel-based transportation system releases tons of toxic gases into the atmosphere putting human health at risk, especially in urban areas. This analysis aims to determine the economic burden of environmental and health impacts caused by Highway 401 traffic. Due to the high volume of vehicles driving on the Toronto Highway 401 corridor, there is an annual release of 3771 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). These emissions are mainly emitted onsite through the combustion of gasoline and diesel fuel. The integration of electric and hydrogen vehicles shows maximum reductions of 405–476 g CO2e per vehicle-kilometer. Besides these carbon dioxide emissions, there is also a large amount of hazardous air pollutants. To examine the impact of air pollution on human health, the mass and concentrations of criteria pollutants of PM2.5 and NOx emitted by passenger vehicles and commercial trucks on Highway 401 were determined using the MOVES2014b software. Then, an air dispersion model (AERMOD) was used to find the concentration of different pollutants at the receptor’s location. The increased risk of health issues was calculated using hazard ratios from literature. Finally, the health cost of air pollution from Highway 401 traffic was estimated to be CAD 416 million per year using the value of statistical life, which is significantly higher than the climate change costs of CAD 55 million per year due to air pollution.

Mortality and morbidity costs of road traffic-based air pollution in Turkey

Government policies on renewing vehicle fleet by introducing newer, cleaner vehicles and removing old, polluting vehicles have significant impacts on air pollution. In this study, the estimated emissions of air pollutants that influence human health are reported together with health endpoints and corresponding mortality and morbidity costs under five alternative road transport policy scenarios, varying in scrapping rate and the shares of hybrid and electric vehicles. Using COPERT software, PM10, PM2.5, NO2, and SO2 emissions are determined for five scenarios. PM2.5 is the most reduced pollutant (41%) if the government adopts the most progressive scenario, followed by PM10 (27%) and NO2 (27%). A total of a maximum of 19,396 premature deaths and 803,328 years of life lost could be saved, corresponding to 252 billion TL cost savings over the 2020–2030 period if the most drastic policy encouraging an introduction of the newer and cleaner vehicles is adopted.

External cost of air pollution from energy generation in Morocco

Morocco’s electricity demand is increasing and the country is struggling to improve its energy independence. Also, air quality levels in Morocco are considered moderately unsafe, as its PM2.5 annual mean concentration of 33 μg/m3 exceeds the recommended maximum of 10 μg/m3. Renewable energy could be the solution to reduce the country’s harmful air pollution levels, mitigate climate change and decrease energy dependence. Incorporating external cost of air pollution from electricity generation into energy decision making-processes could lead to a shift from the use of fossil fuels to more sustainable and less polluting renewable energy sources. For this to happen, a detailed quantification of external costs is necessary. This paper presents a first bottom-up calculation of the costs of damage to human health from air pollution resulting from energy generation, following the Impact Pathway Approach without atmospheric chemistry modelling for the Moroccan energy system of 2015, to give a first estimate and guideline on the order of magnitude of costs. The overall external costs for 2015 were calculated to be between 8.4 and 18 billion € 2015, equating to 18% of the Moroccan GDP.

Estimation of economic costs of air pollution caused by motor vehicles in Iran (Isfahan).

Since mobile sources are one of the most important sources of air pollution, this paper tries to estimate the health effects and economic burden due to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations from motor vehicles. In this regard, we calculate the economic costs of air pollution emitted by vehicles in Isfahan over the period from March 2018 to March 2020. The concentration of urban traffic pollution based on the generalized additive model (GAM) as well as spatial distribution of pollution is estimated. Health effects are evaluated using AirQ+ updated by the WHO European Centre for Environment and Health. Economic burden of mortality attributable air pollution from traffic is calculated using value of a statistical life (VOSL), and the value of life years (VOLY) approach. The results indicated that the number of deaths attributable to PM2.5 from motor vehicles in these two consecutive years was 136 (95%CI: 89-179), and 147 cases (95%CI: 96-194), respectively. The number of years of life lost due to premature death from air pollution was 2079years annually. The economic costs imposed under VOSL approach were on average USD 51.7 (95%CI: 43-75) million per year, and according to VOLY approach USD 11.5 (95%CI: 9-13) million per year. These results help to analyze the cost-benefit and prioritize control measures to reduce air pollution. In addition, combination of these results with other externality cost of road traffic can take account for urban transportation planning.

PEMANFAATAN ABU LIMBAH BONGGOL JAGUNG SEBAGAI BAHAN TAMBAH DENGAN VARIASI SUHU PEMBAKARAN TERHADAP KUAT TEKAN BETON

One way that can be done to reduce air pollution and production costs in concrete is by utilizing waste that is no longer used, one of which is by using corncob ash. The addition of corn cob ash is expected to make a positive contribution to the concrete, by providing adhesion to the concrete mixture so that it can increase the compressive strength. This study aims to determine the effect of adding corncob ash to the concrete mixture on temperature variations that will be used in burning corncobs. The compressive strength test was made using the standard method of SK SNI T-15-2000-03. All samples were made using a cube mold with dimensions of 15cm x 30cm. This test uses 36 samples consisting of normal concrete and 3 variations of corncob ash content ranging from 5%; 10%; 15%.. Based on the analysis of the compressive strength tester at the age of 28 days, the results were 19.67 MPa; 19.74 MPa; 21.81 MPa; 18.98 MPa. With an increase in the maximum compressive strength of 23.714 MPa at an optimum level of 10%. where the added material content of 10% has the highest compressive strength value compared to other corncob ash additions.

Monetary valuation of air quality improvement with the stated preference technique: A multi-pollutant perspective

Air pollution is an important global issue, and governments are making efforts to reduce air pollutant emissions. The elaborate calculation of the social costs of air pollution is essential for justifying the substantial public expenditure on air pollution control policies. This study aims to derive the monetary value of reducing different kinds of air pollutants through the public's willingness to pay (WTP). A choice experiment survey is conducted to examine the public perception of air quality improvement, and the collected stated preference data are analysed with the hierarchical Bayesian logit model. The analysis results show that the public valuation of the emission reduction differs for individual pollutants. On average, the monetary value of one ton of emission reduction follows the order of PM2.5, PM10, SOx, TSP, NOx, and VOC. Based on the elicited WTP, the economic feasibility of the two air pollutant reduction plans of the South Korean Government is assessed. The benefit-to-cost ratio of the plans is 0.61 and 0.66, respectively, based on the mean WTP, indicating that they are not economically feasible at the moment. Implications for the efficient budget allocation of air pollution control policies are provided based on the results.

The Impact of Non-Green Forces on Net Present Value and Green Net Present Value: A Study on three Agricultural Crops

This paper aims to justify the impact of environmental factors on net present value (NPV) and green net present value (GNPV). The study takes 201 samples of family farms, including three crops such as paddy, corn, and potato. This paper adopts regression models and mediating effects to determine the impact of non-green forces on the environment and its consequences on the financial performance of agriculture farms. Empirical findings indicate that fertilizer cost, pesticide cost, air pollution cost, and water pollution cost have a statistically significant impact on evaluating net present value and green net present value for the production of paddy and corn. However, none of the non-green forces have a statistically significant impact on potato production. Furthermore, pesticide cost has a mediating effect on the net present value of paddy and potato cultivation, while only fertilizer cost affects the net present value of corn production. The empirical findings inspire governmental authorities, policymakers, agriculturists, and other stakeholders to develop alternatives to enhance productivity and profits considering the environment.

The external costs of port activity for port cities: An environmental efficiency analysis of Spanish ports

Port activity brings economic benefits to port cities but also generates negative environmental externalities. These negative externalities derived from pollutants represent a social cost for port cities and coastal areas close to ports, and include costs derived from damages to urban buildings, damage to vegetation and damage to the health of the local population. This raises the question of whether ports may have scope to reduce external costs and thereby improve air quality in port cities and/or increase their existing level of service. To address this, we estimate the environmental efficiency of 37 Spanish ports observed in 2016 for which data on inputs, outputs and local external environmental costs are available. Using Data Envelopment Analysis, we estimate a hybrid model with non-separable good and bad outputs. Undesirable output is measured for the first time by local external costs of air pollution instead of tons of pollutants released, which better reflects the differential damages caused by the individual pollutants. Two definitions of undesirable outputs are used: total local external costs and local external costs per capita. In both versions of the model, we find evidence of high levels of environmental inefficiency in Spanish ports, with over half of the ports found to be inefficient. We rank efficient ports using a super-efficiency version of the model with external costs per capita and identify ports which appear to be references for best practice.