27 June 2016

WEO Special Report on Energy and Air Pollution

The International Energy Authority (IEA) has published its World Energy Outlook (WEO) special report highlighting the links between energy, air pollution and health. The report, released on 27 June 2016, was compiled with key contributions from IIASA's AIR program. It identifies ways in which the energy sector can improve poor air quality, one of the top four threats to human health.

© IEA © IEA

© IEA

IIASA researchers in the Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases Program contributed to the report by quantifying the air pollution and health impacts of projections of alternative energy policy interventions. Their analysis relied on the Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS) model.

The report shows that energy production and use – mostly from unregulated, poorly regulated or inefficient fuel combustion – are the most important man-made sources of key air pollutant emissions: 85% of particulate matter and almost all of the sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Millions of tons of these pollutants are released into the atmosphere each year, from factories, power plants, cars, trucks, as well as the 2.7 billion people still relying on polluting stoves and fuels for cooking (mainly wood, charcoal and other biomass).

In the central outlook of the WEO special report, growing attention to this issue and an accelerating energy transition post-COP21 puts global emissions of these pollutants on a slowly declining trend to 2040. However, the problem is far from solved and global changes mask strong regional differences: emissions continue to fall in industrialized countries. In China, recent signs of decline are consolidated. But emissions generally rise in India, Southeast Asia and Africa, as expected growth in energy demand dwarfs policy efforts related to air quality.

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Last edited: 08 July 2016

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