Evaluation of economic loss from energy-related environmental pollution: a case study of Beijing

Abstract

With the growth of energy consumption, energy-related environmental pollution has become increasingly serious, which in turn causes enormous economic loss because of public health damage, corrosion of materials, crop yield reduction, and other factors. Evaluating economic loss caused by energy-related environmental pollution can contribute to decision making in energy management. A framework for evaluating economic loss from environmental pollution produced during energy production, transportation, and consumption is proposed in this paper. Regarding SO₂, PM₁₀, and solid waste as the main pollutants, economic losses from health damage, materials corrosion, crop yield reduction, and solid waste pollution are estimated based on multiple concentration-response relationships and dose–response functions. The proposed framework and evaluation methods are applied to Beijing, China. It is evident that total economic loss attributable to energy-related environmental pollution fluctuated during 2000–2011 but had a general growth trend, with the highest value reaching 2.3 × 10⁸ CNY (China Yuan) in 2006. Economic loss caused by health damage contributes most to the total loss among the four measured damage types. The total economic loss strongly correlates with the amount of energy consumption, especially for oil and electricity. Our evaluation framework and methods can be used widely to measure the potential impact of environmental pollution in the energy lifecycle.

Keywords

economic loss / environmental pollution / health damage / energy lifecycle / Beijing

References

[1] Atkinson R W, Anderson H R, Sunyer J, Ayres J, Baccini M, Vonk J M, Boumghar A, Forastiere F, Forsberg B, Touloumi G, Schwartz J, Katsouyanni K (2001). Acute effects of particulate air pollution on respiratory admissions: results from APHEA2 project. Air Pollution and Health: a European Approach. Am J Respir Crit Care Med, 164(10 Pt 1): 1860–1866

[2] Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics (2012). Beijing Statistical Yearbook. Beijing, China (in Chinese)

[3] Cao H F, Shu J M, Liu Y Y, Gao Y X, Liu L G, Xiong Y J (1991). Study on economic losses of crops by acid precipitation in Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. Research of Environmental Sciences, 4(2): 1–6 (in Chinese)

[4] Chang G, Wang L, Pan X (2003). Study on the associations between ambient air pollutant and hospital outpatient visit or emergency room visit in Beijing China. Chinese Journal of School Doctor, 17(4): 295–297 (in Chinese)

[5] Clancy L, Goodman P, Sinclair H, Dockery D W (2002). Effect of air-pollution control on death rates in Dublin, Ireland: an intervention study. Lancet, 360(9341): 1210–1214

[6] Deng X (2006). Economic costs of motor vehicle emissions in China: a case study. Transp Res Part D Transp Environ, 11(3): 216–226

[7] DSTS (Department of Science Technology and Standards, Ministry of Environmental Protection of China) (1996). Manual for Industrial Pollutant Production and Emission Factors. Beijing: China Environmental Science Press

[8] Energy Research Institute, National Development and Reform Commission (2003). Research report on the Sustainable Energy Development and Carbon Emission Scenarios Analysis in China. Beijing, China. Available from: http://www.efchina.org/csepupfiles/report/2006102695218904.9855476188724.pdf/Fnl_Scenario_CN.pdf (Accessed <month>September</month><day>23</day>, 2012) (in Chinese)

[9] Garbaccio R F, Ho M S, Jorgenson D W (2000). The Health Benefits of Controlling Carbon Emissions in China. Cambridge: Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

[10] Gregory K, Webster C, Durk S (1996). Estimates of damage to forests in Europe due to emissions of acidifying pollutants. Energy Policy, 24(7): 655–664

[11] Guo J (2004). The Estimation of Economic Losses of Material Destruction Caused by Acid Deposition. Beijing: Beijing University of Chemical Technology (in Chinese)

[12] Guo X B (2007). New progress in impact of atmospheric pollution on health. Journal of Peking University (Health Sciences), 39(2): 116–118

[13] Guo X R, Cheng S Y, Chen D S, Zhou Y, Wang H Y (2010). Estimation of economic costs of particulate air pollution from road transport in China. Atmos Environ, 44(28): 3369–3377

[14] Hammitt J K, Zhou Y (2006). The economic value of air-pollution-related health risks in China: a contingent valuation study. Environ Resour Econ, 33(3): 399–423

[15] Hiltermann T J, Stolk J, van der Zee S C, Brunekreef B, de Bruijne C R, Fischer P H, Ameling C B, Sterk P J, Hiemstra P S, van Bree L (1998). Asthma severity and susceptibility to air pollution. Eur Respir J, 11(3): 686–693

[16] Hirschberg S, Heck T, Gantner U, Lu Y, Spadaro J V, Trukenmuller A, Zhao Y (2004). Health and environmental impacts of China’s current and future electricity supply, with associated external costs. International Journal of Global Energy Issues, 22: 155–179. Available from: http://www.inderscience.com/info/inarticle.php?artid=5906 (Accessed <month>February</month><day>5</day>, 2013).

[17] Huang S L (1998). Urban ecosystems, energetic hierarchies, and ecological economics of Taipei metropolis. J Environ Manage, 52(1): 39–51

[18] Jiang Z Y (2008). Study on the external cost of nuclear power and coal power in China. Dissertation for Doctoral Degree. Beijing: Tsinghua University (in Chinese)

[19] Kan H D, Chen B H, Chen C H, Fu Q Y, Chen M H (2004). An evaluation of public health impact of ambient air pollution under various energy scenarios in Shanghai, China. Atmos Environ, 38(1): 95–102

[20] Kanazu T, Matsumura T, Nishiuchi T, Yamamoto T (2001). Effect of simulated acid rain on deterioration of concrete. Water Air Soil Pollut, 130(1/4): 1481–1486

[21] Kucera V, Fitz S (1995). Direct and indirect air pollution effects on materials including cultural monuments. Water Air Soil Pollut, 85(1): 153–165

[22] Pan X C, Yue W, He K B, Tong S L (2007). Health benefit evaluation of the energy use scenarios in Beijing, China. Sci Total Environ, 374(2-3): 242–251

[23] Pope C A 3rd, Burnett R T, Thun M J, Calle E E, Krewski D, Ito K, Thurston G D (2002). Lung cancer, cardiopulmonary mortality, and long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution. JAMA, 287(9): 1132–1141

[24] Schwartz J, Hasselblad V, Pitcher H (1988). Air pollution and morbidity: a further analysis of the Los Angeles student nurses data. JAPCA, 38(2): 158–162

[25] Smith K R (1993). Fuel combustion, air pollution exposure, and health: the situation in developing countries. Annu Rev Energy Environ, 18(1): 529–566

[26] Su M R, Yang Z F, Chen B (2010). Relative urban ecosystem health assessment: a method integrating comprehensive evaluation and detailed analysis. EcoHealth, 7(4): 459–472

[27] Tidblad J, Kucera V, Mikhailov A A (2001). Mapping of acid deposition effects and calculation of corrosion costs on zinc in China. Water Air Soil Pollut, 130(1/4): 1469–1474

[28] Wang W X, Hong S X, Zhang W H (1995). Development of material damage function for acid deposition. Acta Scientiae Circumstantiae, 15(1): 23–31 (in Chinese)

[29] Wang Y (2010). The analysis of the impacts of energy consumption on environment and public health in China. Energy, 35(11): 4473–4479

[30] Wong C M, Atkinson R W, Anderson H R, Hedley A J, Ma S, Chau P Y K, Lam T H (2002). A tale of two cities: effects of air pollution on hospital admissions in Hong Kong and London compared. Environ Health Perspect, 110(1): 67–77

[31] World Bank (1997). Clear Water, Blue Skies: China’s Environment in the New Century. Washington, D.C.

[32] World Bank, State Environmental Protection Administration of China (2007). Cost of Pollution in China. Washington, D.C.

[33] Wu M J (2011). The life cycle assessment of coal-fired power generation. Dissertation for Doctoral Degree. Taiyuan: Taiyuan University of Technology (in Chinese)

[34] Wu Z, Li Z, Chen G Q (2011). Multi-scale analysis for environmental dispersion in wetland flow. Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simul, 16(8): 3168–3178

[35] Xu X, Dockery D W, Christiani D C, Li B, Huang H (1995b). Association of air pollution with hospital outpatient visits in Beijing. Arch Environ Health, 50(3): 214–220

[36] Xu X P, Gao J, Dockery D W, Chen Y D (1994). Air pollution and daily mortality in residential areas of Beijing, China. Arch Environ Health, 49(4): 216–222

[37] Xu X, Li B, Huang H (1995a). Air pollution and unscheduled hospital outpatient and emergency room visits. Environ Health Perspect, 103(3): 286–289

[38] Yang D Y, Li X J, Chen Y Y, Zou B D, Lin A G (2011). Characteristics of chemical compositions of precipitation in Beijing. Envirionmental Science, 32(7): 1867–1873 (in Chinese)

[39] Yuan B R, Nie Z R, Di X H, Zuo T Y (2006). Life cycle inventories of fossil fuels in China (II): final life cycle inventories. Modern Chemical Industry, 26(4): 59–61 (in Chinese)

[40] Zhang L B, Cao H F, Shen Y W, Gao J X, Shu J M, Liu L G, Xiong Y J (1997). Effect of acidic deposition on agriculture of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi provinces—assessment of agricultural loss. China Environ Sci, 17(6): 489–491 (in Chinese)

[41] Zhang M S, Song Y, Cai X H (2007). A health-based assessment of particulate air pollution in urban areas of Beijing in 2000-2004. Sci Total Environ, 376(1-3): 100–108

[42] Zhou J, Cui S H, Lin J Y, Li F (2011). The impacts of energy consumption on the environment and public health in Xiamen City. Acta Scientiae Circumstantiae, 31(9): 2058–2065 (in Chinese)

Acknowledgements

Financial support is provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40901269 and 41101564), the Funds for Innovative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51121003), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities. The authors would also thank the help of the editor and the comments of the reviewers, which significantly improved the quality of this paper.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg