
IEA: Strategies for cleaner air
The International Energy Agency (IEA) in June released a report that highlights the links between energy, air pollution and health, and identifies contributions the energy sector can make to curb poor air quality.
Based on new projections to 2040, the report provides a global outlook for energy and air pollution as well as detailed profiles for the US, Mexico, the EU, China, India, Southeast Asia and Africa. It also identifies contributions the energy sector can make to improve air quality. Energy production and use are the most important man-made sources of key air pollutant emissions, responsible for 85 per cent of PM and almost all of the sulphur and nitrogen oxides.
The report presents strategies tailored to various national circumstances to deliver cleaner air for all. A new Clean Air Scenario demonstrates how energy policy choices backed by just a seven per cent increase in total energy investment through 2040 produce a sharp improvement in health. Under such a scenario, premature deaths from outdoor air pollution would decline by 1.7 million in 2040 compared with the main scenario, and those from household pollution would fall by 1.6 million annually.
According to the study, the EU could cut annual air-pollution-related premature deaths from 340,000 in 2015 to 180,000 in 2040 under the Clean Air Scenario, compared to 230,000 in 2040 in the baseline scenario.
The report “World Energy Outlook 2016 Special Report on Energy and Air Pollution”