Page 5 - AfrElec Week 21 2022

AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec

existing coal plants and prevent the construction deaths
of new ones, coal plants in Asia (outside China) Existing coal plants, if allowed to run until the
could potentially contribute to a further 7mn end of their lifetime, account for just over 80% of
premature deaths between now and 2050. projected premature deaths over the period to
An early phase-out of coal, in line with 2050, with plants under construction making up
phase-out dates that are based on regional path- a further 7% of the potential total.
ways considered by the IPCC Special Report on However, around 3.2 million premature
Global Warming of 1.5°C, could contribute to deaths (11% of the total) could be avoided simply
avoiding 14.4mn premature deaths, or saving by stopping building any new coal plants.
423mn years of life from plants in Asia alone, by Avoiding construction of any new coal-fired
2050. plants and implementing a rapid phase-out of
In the report’s Early Phase-out scenario anal- all operational units is critical to limiting global
ysis, OECD countries phase out coal generation temperature rise and avoiding catastrophic soci-
completely by 2031, with non-OECD Asian oeconomic impacts.
countries removing coal from the power mix by Bringing about an urgent end to depend-
2037. ence on coal to meet electricity needs could help
Implementing a phase-out even earlier than prevent vast numbers of deaths in the coming
these timeframes would further boost the poten- decades. And whilst transformation of existing
tial health benefits. energy sectors and the huge scale up of low car-
Weaning off existing coal plants is the key bon technologies presents their challenges, the
challenge, but simply stopping any new con- technologies and know-how exists to deliver a
struction can still avoid millions of premature rapid coal phase-out.

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