Air quality and public health co-benefits of 100% renewable electricity adoption and electrification pathways in Los Angeles

Li, Yun; Ravi, Vikram; Heath, Garvin; Zhang, Jiachen; Vahmani, Pouya; Lee, Sang-Mi; Zhang, Xinqiu; Sanders, Kelly T.; Ban-Weiss, George A.

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ad24cc

Air quality and public health co-benefits of 100% renewable electricity adoption and electrification pathways in Los Angeles

Journal Article · Fri Feb 16 00:00:00 EST 2024 · Environmental Research Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad24cc· OSTI ID:2325022

^[1]; ^[2]; ^[2]; ^[1]; ^[3]; Lee, Sang-Mi ^[4]; Zhang, Xinqiu ^[4]; ^[1]; Ban-Weiss, George A. ^[1]

Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
South Coast Air Quality Management District, Diamond Bar, CA (United States)

To demonstrate how a mega city can lead in decarbonizing beyond legal mandates, the city of Los Angeles (LA) developed science-based, feasible pathways towards utilizing 100% renewable energy for its municipally-owned electric utility. Aside from decarbonization, renewable energy adoption can lead to co-benefits such as improving urban air quality from reductions in combustion-related emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NO_x), primary fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and others. Herein, we quantify changes to air pollutant concentrations and public health from scenarios of 100% renewable electricity adoption in LA in 2045, alongside aggressive electrification of end-use sectors. Our analysis suggests that while ensuring reliable electricity supply, reductions in emissions of air pollutants associated with the 100% renewable electricity scenarios can lead to 8% citywide reductions of PM_2.5 concentration while increasing ozone concentration by 5% relative to a 2012 baseline year, given identical meteorology conditions. The combination of these concentration changes could result in net monetized public health benefits (driven by avoided deaths) of up to $$\$$$$1.4 billion in year 2045 in LA, results potentially replicable for other city-scale decarbonization scenarios.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP); USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231; AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 2325022

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2332759

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA--6A20-88244; MainId:89019; UUID:0d9195ea-f150-4b07-9c40-86f064f86fe8; MainAdminId:72079

Journal Information:: Environmental Research Letters, Journal Name: Environmental Research Letters Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 19; ISSN 1748-9326

Publisher:: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (29)

Modeling the weekly cycle of NO _x and CO emissions and their impacts on O ₃ in the Los Angeles-South Coast Air Basin during the CalNex 2010 field campaign: Modeling Weekly Cycle of the LA Air Quality in 2010 Kim, S. -W.; McDonald, B. C.; Baidar, S. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 121, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD024292	journal	February 2016
Interactions of Climate Change, Air Pollution, and Human Health Kinney, Patrick L. Current Environmental Health Reports, Vol. 5, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-018-0188-x	journal	February 2018
Potential impacts of electric vehicles on air quality and health endpoints in the Greater Houston Area in 2040 Pan, Shuai; Roy, Anirban; Choi, Yunsoo Atmospheric Environment, Vol. 207 https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ATMOSENV.2019.03.022	journal	June 2019
A roadmap for repowering California for all purposes with wind, water, and sunlight Jacobson, Mark Z.; Delucchi, Mark A.; Ingraffea, Anthony R. Energy, Vol. 73 https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ENERGY.2014.06.099	journal	August 2014
The Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program – Community Edition (BenMAP–CE): A tool to estimate the health and economic benefits of reducing air pollution Sacks, Jason D.; Lloyd, Jennifer M.; Zhu, Yun Environmental Modelling & Software, Vol. 104 https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ENVSOFT.2018.02.009	journal	June 2018
A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 Lim, Stephen S.; Vos, Theo; Flaxman, Abraham D. The Lancet, Vol. 380, Issue 9859 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61766-8	journal	December 2012
Fully coupled “online” chemistry within the WRF model Grell, Georg A.; Peckham, Steven E.; Schmitz, Rainer Atmospheric Environment, Vol. 39, Issue 37 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2005.04.027	journal	December 2005
Effect of climate change on air quality Jacob, Daniel J.; Winner, Darrell A. Atmospheric Environment, Vol. 43, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2008.09.051	journal	January 2009
Comprehensively assessing the drivers of future air quality in California Zhu, Shupeng; Horne, Jeremy R.; Mac Kinnon, Michael Environment International, Vol. 125 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2019.02.007	journal	April 2019
Switching to electric vehicles can lead to significant reductions of PM2.5 and NO2 across China Wang, Liqiang; Chen, Xue; Zhang, Yibo One Earth, Vol. 4, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.06.008	journal	July 2021
Alternative-energy-vehicles deployment delivers climate, air quality, and health co-benefits when coupled with decarbonizing power generation in China Peng, Liqun; Liu, Feiqi; Zhou, Mi One Earth, Vol. 4, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.07.007	journal	August 2021
Effects of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles on Ozone Concentrations in Colorado Brinkman, Gregory L.; Denholm, Paul; Hannigan, Michael P. Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 44, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1021/ES101076C	journal	August 2010
Decarbonization will lead to more equitable air quality in California Zhu, Shupeng; Mac Kinnon, Michael; Carlos-Carlos, Andrea Nature Communications, Vol. 13, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33295-9	journal	September 2022
Economy-wide evaluation of CO2 and air quality impacts of electrification in the United States Bistline, John E. T.; Blanford, Geoffrey; Grant, John Nature Communications, Vol. 13, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33902-9	journal	November 2022
Premature mortality related to United States cross-state air pollution Dedoussi, Irene C.; Eastham, Sebastian D.; Monier, Erwan Nature, Vol. 578, Issue 7794 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-1983-8	journal	February 2020
Health co-benefits of achieving sustainable net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in California Wang, Tianyang; Jiang, Zhe; Zhao, Bin Nature Sustainability, Vol. 3, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-0520-y	journal	May 2020
An Association between Air Pollution and Mortality in Six U.S. Cities Dockery, Douglas W.; Pope, C. Arden; Xu, Xiping New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 329, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM199312093292401	journal	December 1993
HEALTH EFFECTS OF OZONE A Critical Review Lippmann, Morton JAPCA, Vol. 39, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1080/08940630.1989.10466554	journal	May 1989
Health Effects of Fine Particulate Air Pollution: Lines that Connect Pope, C. Arden; Dockery, Douglas W. Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, Vol. 56, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1080/10473289.2006.10464485	journal	June 2006
Interacting implications of climate change, population dynamics, and urban heat mitigation for future exposure to heat extremes Vahmani, P.; Jones, Andrew D.; Patricola, Christina M. Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 14, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/AB28B0	journal	August 2019
Air pollution and hospital admissions for ischemic heart disease in persons with congestive heart failure or arrhythmia. Mann, Jennifer K.; Tager, Ira B.; Lurmann, Fred Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 110, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP.021101247	journal	December 2002
The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100): Executive Summary Cochran, Jaquelin; Denholm, Paul; Mooney, Meghan https://doi.org/10.2172/1774871	report	March 2021
The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100): Chapter 8. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Heath, Garvin; Nicholson, Scott; Walter, Marissa https://doi.org/10.2172/1958738	report	March 2021
The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100): Chapter 10. Environmental Justice Hettinger, Dylan; Cochran, Jaquelin; Ravi, Vikram https://doi.org/10.2172/1958740	report	March 2021
Integrating Air Quality and Public Health Benefits in U.S. Decarbonization Strategies Gallagher, Ciaran L.; Holloway, Tracey Frontiers in Public Health, Vol. 8 https://doi.org/10.3389/FPUBH.2020.563358	journal	November 2020
Low-carbon energy generates public health savings in California Zapata, Christina B.; Yang, Chris; Yeh, Sonia Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 18, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.5194/ACP-18-4817-2018	journal	January 2018
Estimating criteria pollutant emissions using the California Regional Multisector Air Quality Emissions (CA-REMARQUE) model v1.0 Zapata, Christina B.; Yang, Chris; Yeh, Sonia Geoscientific Model Development, Vol. 11, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.5194/GMD-11-1293-2018	journal	January 2018
The Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature version 2.1 (MEGAN2.1): an extended and updated framework for modeling biogenic emissions Guenther, A. B.; Jiang, X.; Heald, C. L. Geoscientific Model Development, Vol. 5, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.5194/GMD-5-1471-2012	journal	January 2012
Modeling the impact of COVID-19 on air quality in southern California: implications for future control policies Jiang, Zhe; Shi, Hongrong; Zhao, Bin Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 21, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8693-2021	journal	June 2021

Similar Records

The quest for improved air quality may push China to continue its CO₂ reduction beyond the Paris Commitment

Journal Article · Sun Nov 08 19:00:00 EST 2020 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · OSTI ID:1734554

Economy-wide evaluation of CO₂ and air quality impacts of electrification in the United States

Journal Article · Fri Nov 04 20:00:00 EDT 2022 · Nature Communications · OSTI ID:1998994

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
Los Angeles
air quality
climate change
public health
renewable energy adoption

Air quality and public health co-benefits of 100% renewable electricity adoption and electrification pathways in Los Angeles

Citation Formats

References (29)

Similar Records

Related Subjects