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Title: Valuing the Ozone-Related Health Benefits of Methane Emission Controls

Journal Article · · Environmental and Resource Economics
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Methane is a greenhouse gas that oxidizes to form ground-level ozone, itself a greenhouse gas and a health-harmful air pollutant. Reducing methane emissions will both slow anthropogenic climate change and reduce ozone-related mortality. We estimate the benefits of reducing methane emissions anywhere in the world for ozone-related premature mortality globally and for eight geographic regions. Our methods are consistent with those used by the U.S. Government to estimate the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC). We find that the global short- and long-term premature mortality benefits due to reduced ozone production from methane mitigation are (2011)$790 and $1775 per tonne methane, respectively. These correspond to approximately 70% and 150% of the valuation of methane’s global climate impacts using the SCC after extrapolating from carbon dioxide to methane using Global Warming Potential (GWP) estimates. Results are most sensitive to the choice of VSL and increase for emission years further in the future. Regionally, most of the global mortality benefits accrue in Asia, but 10% accrue in the United States. This methodology can be used to assess the benefits of methane emission reductions anywhere in the world, including those achieved by national and multinational policies.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1342293
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-103609; 400408000
Journal Information:
Environmental and Resource Economics, Vol. 66, Issue 1; ISSN 0924-6460
Publisher:
Springer
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (4)

Impacts and mitigation of excess diesel-related NOx emissions in 11 major vehicle markets journal May 2017
Ancillary health effects of climate mitigation scenarios as drivers of policy uptake: a review of air quality, transportation and diet co-benefits modeling studies journal October 2017
A quantitative approach to evaluating the GWP timescale through implicit discount rates journal January 2018
Health Effects of Energy Intensive Sectors and the Potential Health Co-Benefits of a Low Carbon Industrial Transition in China journal August 2019

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Methane
Ozone
Mortality
Air Pollution