Dear editors and journalists,
Researchers from Harvard University and Greenpeace
are releasing the first peer reviewed study to attribute deaths to coal air
pollution in Asia. Approximately 50,000 lives could saved every year by 2030 if
no new coal-fired power plants are built in Southeast Asia, South Korea, Japan
and Taiwan. The study further outlines and compares coal growth and risk of
death across the region and provides advanced modelling based on maps of all
coal plants in those countries.
If you're interested, we can you with the report
authors for interviews, and provide news clip reel and images. The study itself
has been peer reviewed and will go live on 13 January at around 13:00 EST 12
January on this link:
http://pubs.acs.org/toc/esthag/current
Best
regards,
Tristan
-------
Press release
Cancelling new coal plants in
Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan would save 50,000 lives a year
Hong Kong, 13 January 2017
- Approximately 50,000 lives a year could saved by 2030 if no new coal-fired
power plants are built in Southeast Asia, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan,
according to a groundbreaking peer reviewed study from researchers at Harvard
University and Greenpeace International.Air pollutant emissions
from coal-fired power plants in these regions currently cause an estimated
20,000 excess deaths per year, increasing to 70,000 by 2030 if coal-fired power
plants presently planned or under construction go ahead. The majority of these
mortalities (55,000 by 2030) will be in Southeast Asia."While air pollution in China and India has received a
lot of scientific attention, the impacts of planned coal power expansion in the
rest of the Southeast and East Asian region have been understudied,” said
Shannon Koplitz, lead researcher in the project from Harvard
University.“Reliance on coal in emerging Southeast Asian countries
will have substantial and long-lasting impacts on air quality and public health.
We estimate that tens of thousands of premature deaths could be avoided through
cleaner energy choices. These significant human health costs should be
considered when making choices about Southeast Asia’s energy future”.Authors from Harvard University Atmospheric Sciences
modeling group, Harvard School of Public Health and Greenpeace mapped out
current emissions from all coal-fired power plants in the region, and used a
sophisticated atmospheric model to assess how much of current air pollution
levels are due to coal emissions in different locations across Asia.If proposed coal-fired power plant projects go ahead,
emissions from coal in Southeast Asia, Korea and Japan will triple by 2030 and
could exceed total coal emissions in the U.S. and Europe, with the largest
increases in Indonesia and Vietnam. Coal-fired power plants could be responsible
for 70,000 premature deaths in the region every year, rivaling the 100,000
deaths from Indonesia’s 2015 smog. Indonesia will suffer the highest number of
premature deaths, followed by Vietnam, with Myanmar experiencing the fourth
highest mortality in 2030.“Planned coal expansion in
Southeast Asia is a particular concern because of these countries’ extremely
weak emission standards for power plants. All countries in the region allow many
times more pollution from new coal-fired power plants than China and
India,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, Senior Global Coal Campaigner at Greenpeace East
Asia.“Countries in Southeast Asia have the chance now to
leapfrog dirty, outdated technology like coal and move to renewable energy.
Vietnam already took the first step by cancelling 17 large coal-fired power
plants, reducing the projected health impacts from the country’s massive coal
expansion by more than one fourth. Governments across the region have the chance
to urgently shift their energy policies and save the lives of tens of thousands
of their citizens.”Southeast Asia is one of
the fastest developing regions in the world; electricity demand in 2035 is
projected to increase by 83% from 2011 levels, more than twice the global
average. Many countries in the region are still pursuing new coal-fired power
plants, while lagging behind China and India in scaling up renewable
energy.Among developed countries, only Japan and South Korea
continue stand out as the only ones to pursue new coal-fired power plants, in
spite of their in contrast with climate commitments and concerns about public
health.China, the world’s largest emitter, has seen an overall
decrease in coal consumption and associated pollutant emissions since 2013 and
this trend will continue, despite recent jump in pollution. While China's
pollution frequently spills over to neighboring countries, China could also
start feeling the impacts of growing emissions outside of its borders. Some of
the reductions in China’s air pollution could be offset by increases in
Southeast Asia, as mainland China will see about 9,000 premature deaths in 2030
due to pollution from rising coal emissions from neighbouring
countries.Notes to editors:
[1] Link to the study: URL
to go live 02:00 EST 12 JanuaryMedia contacts:
Greenpeace International
Press Desk, pressd...@greenpeace.org,
phone: +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours)
--
Tristan Tremschnig
Communications Hub Manager | Asia
Pacific | Greenpeace |
--
Sent: Friday, January 13, 2017 5:06 AM
Subject: [press-release] Coal air pollution death rates in Asia -
Harvard/Greenpeace peer reviewed study
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