TY - JOUR
TI - The climate and air-quality benefits of wind and solar power in the United States
AU - Millstein, D
AU - Wiser, R
AU - Bolinger, M
AU - Barbose, G
T2 - Nature Energy
AB - Wind and solar energy reduce combustion-based electricity generation and provide air-quality and greenhouse gas emission benefits. These benefits vary dramatically by region and over time. From 2007 to 2015, solar and wind power deployment increased rapidly while regulatory changes and fossil fuel price changes led to steep cuts in overall power-sector emissions.Here we evaluate how wind and solar climate and air-quality benefits evolved during this time period. We find cumulative wind and solar air-quality benefits of 2015 US$29.7–112.8 billion mostly from 3,000 to 12,700 avoided premature mortalities,and cumulative climate benefits of 2015 US$5.3–106.8 billion. The ranges span results across a suite of air-quality and health  impact models and social cost of carbon estimates. We find that binding cap-and-trade pollutant markets may reduce thesecumulative benefits by up to 16%. In 2015, based on central estimates, combined marginal benefits equal 7.3¢kWh−1(wind) and 4.0¢kWh−1(solar).
DA - 2017/08//
PY - 2017
VL - 2
SP - 17134
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/nenergy2017134
DO - 10.1038/nenergy.2017.134
LA - English
KW - Wind Energy
KW - Human Dimensions
KW - Climate Change
ER -