Page 12 - AsiaElec Week 39 2021

AsiaElec COAL AsiaElec

Coal closures could save megacities

from pollution-related deaths

ASIA THE closure of coal fired-plants located close to 93,600 new asthma cases among children and
urban centres across the developing world in line 247,900 asthma emergency visits in the same
with the 1.5-degree climate targets would pre- cities from 2020 to 2030.
vent hundreds of thousands of deaths and dras- These premature deaths from coal power
tically cut the economic fallout of air pollution. could cost the 61 cities $877bn from 2020 to
Around 68% of the world’s current fleet of 2030, with the cost of work absences from health
coal power plants lie within 500 km of the world’s issues estimated at $10bn.
40 largest cities, a report from the Centre for However, the report notes that some progress
Research on Energy and Clean Air found. These is already taking place. Such actions include coal
cities account for two-thirds of global primary bans, emissions regulations and shareholder
energy use. action.
This means that coal-free cities would have Other options include shifting demand from
a tremendous impact of both the health and coal to clean energy, including by transitioning
economies of cities in Africa and Asia, such municipal energy procurement to sustainable
as Kolkata, Johannesburg, Jakarta, Tshwane, energy, aggregating energy demand to broker
Ekurhuleni, Beijing, Shanghai, Chicago, Mum- better deals, and participating in energy regula-
bai and Hanoi. tion processes at other levels of government.
The alternative of investing in clean energy Governments and local authorities can also
would deliver lower-cost electricity in Africa and accelerate renewable energy generation by using
Asia and create more energy sector jobs in most city assets for clean energy projects, assessing
of these cities. local potential for renewables, incentivising
The report found that air pollution from renewables in private buildings, and explor-
coal-fired power plants could cause an estimated ing supportive municipal policies such as local
264,900 people to die prematurely between 2020 feed-in tariffs (FiTs).
and 2030 in 61 C40 cities. Such changes have the potential to provide
The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group is a major contribution to achieving 1.5°C, pre-
a group of 97 cities around the world that rep- venting around 1.3 GtCO2e from cities’ own
resent one twelfth of the world’s population and electricity demand, and through this influence a
one quarter of the global economy. wider phase-out of coal-generated electricity of
Coal affects all aspects of C40 residents’ 24 GtCO2e, equivalent to 6% of the world’s total
health, contributing to 121,100 premature births, remaining carbon budget.™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 39 29•September•2022