Wolfram Krewitt

Country-specific Damage Factors for Air Pollutants

An integrated impact assessment model is used to calculate the impact per tonne of SO2, NOx, fine particles, and NMVOC emitted from different source countries on human health, acidification, eutrophication, and the man-made environment (crop yield and building materials). Indicators on the endpoint level are used to measure the effects resulting from a marginal change in emission levels. While the assessment of impacts on ecosystems and the man-made environment is limited to Europe, damage factors for health effects are also derived for Asia and South America. For Europe, emission scenarios for the years 1990 and 2010 are considered to analyse the influence of changing background conditions on the resulting impacts. Results show that there is a significant variation in the damage resulting from a unit emission for some of the impact categories, both between countries and between base years. Depending on the scope of the study and the information available from the life cycle inventory, results from the paper can be used to consider site dependent conditions in life cycle impact assessment as a complement to the current site-independent (or global) approach.

Environmental damage costs from fossil electricity generation in Germany and Europe

Abstract While studies on external costs of electricity generation generally aim at the calculation of marginal costs for a new increment of power generation, we have applied an extended bottom-up modelling framework to calculate average health and environmental damage costs from fossil electricity generation in Germany and Europe. Aggregated average damage costs provide helpful complementary information to site and technology specific ‘point’ values to be used for more general policy analysis. Environmental damage costs caused by fossil fired power plants in the EU-15 countries in 1990 amount to about 70 billion US

Application of the impact pathway analysis in the context of LCA

. Results show that damage costs per tonne of pollutant emitted might vary considerably by site and – as structural changes like those observed in the eastern part of Germany after the re-unification show – also over time. A comparison of damage costs and private costs of emission reduction measures in large combustion plants shows that on the European average the implementation of current best available emission reduction technologies is well justified.

Comparing costs and environmental benefits of strategies to combat acidification and ozone in Europe

Current LCA practice is mass oriented, i.e. is focused on the amount of chemicals released, disregarding place and time of release. Life cycle impact assessment aims at evaluating potential impacts, and a variety of weighting schemes is discussed to he used for ranking and aggregation of impacts. To establish a closer link between the quantity of a burden released and a decision making context, we propose to follow a detailed impact pathway analysis to estimate actual impacts for some priority impact categories, and use measured individuals’ preferences for impact valuation. Results from a case study illustrate the relevance of site specific impact assessment in the context of LCA.

Environmental Impact and External Cost Assessment

The European Commission has adopted a strategy to combat acidification; this program will reduce significantly the extent of the areas in the European Union where the tolerance of sensitive ecosystems to acidity is exceeded. Benefits due to reduced adverse effects on human health, crop production, and building materials resulting from the implementation of emission reduction strategies are assessed and compared against the emission control costs required to implement these strategies. Results indicate that in spite of considerable uncertainties (for example, in valuation of mortality related to air pollution), the avoided environmental damage costs by far exceed the control costs. The analysis of the spatial distribution of burdens and benefits shows, however, that benefits are not evenly distributed throughout Europe.

Assessment of environmental and health benefits from the implementation of the UN-ECE protocols on long range transboundary air pollution

Aside from tremendous benefits the conversion of energy can be harmful to the human health and environment. Assessment of public health effects associated with air pollution caused by various means of electricity generation was one of the central goals of CETP. Currently, China is experiencing rapid economic growth, and this trend is expected to continue. But the damage to air, soil and water quality backfires on the rate of growth. Economic growth is accompanied by increasing electricity demand, with coal as the dominant energy source. This development implies that, along with the dominant health effects, sulfur deposition (and the resulting acidification) stand out as the primary environmental issues to be addressed. Examples of the impacts include effects such as chronic bronchitis, reduction in lifetime expectancy, or adverse effects on the environment, such as loss of crops.

External Costs of Fossil Fuel Cycles

Abstract Following a detailed bottom-up impact pathway approach, environmental and health benefits in Europe resulting from the reduction of SO2 and NOx emissions according to the current UN-ECE protocols are quantified. As far as possible, the physical impacts are transformed into monetary terms, thus, allowing a direct comparison of abatement costs and environmental benefits. Compared to 1990 emission levels, the reduction scenario results in avoided damage costs of about 100 billion ECU per year. The analysis of geographical variation of benefits shows however that benefits and emission reduction efforts are unevenly distributed across countries.

Comparison of health and environmental impacts from electricity generation systems

The use of energy causes damage to a wide range of receptors, including human health, natural ecosystems, and the built environment. Such damages are referred to as external costs, as they are not reflected in the market price of energy. Traditional economic assessment has ignored externalities, and policy makers have tended to opt for “command and control” legislation for environmental issues. However, there is a growing interest in adopting a more sophisticated approach involving the quantification of the environmental and health impacts of energy use and their related external costs. This requires policy analysts to take account of environmental aspects in their decision making and to undertake a specified cost-benefit analysis.

EcoSense Brazil/Latin America Version 1.0 : user’s manual

Health and environmental impacts from fossil, renewable and nuclear electricity generation are estimated following a detailed bottom-up impact pathway analysis. By using a set of harmonised air quality and dose-effect models, a methodological framework has been established and consistently applied across different fuel chains, including the analysis of consequences from beyond design nuclear accidents. As far as possible, welfare losses resulting from environmental impacts are transferred into monetary terms to make results comparable on an aggregated level, and to indicate the costs to society resulting from health and environmental damage related to electricity generation.

Application of a Hybrid-Approach to the Life Cycle Inventory Analysis of a Freight Transport Task

The Users Manual explains how to use the Brazil/Latin America multi-source version of the EcoSense model for Windows. EcoSense is an integrated computer system developed for the assessment of environmental impacts (including human health) and resulting external costs from electricity generation systems and other activities. Based on the impact pathway approach established in the ExternE project on External Costs of Energy funded by the European Commission, EcoSense provides relevant data and models required for an integrated impact assessment related to airborne pollutants. EcoSense was developed at the Institute of Energy Economics and the Rational Use of Energy (IER), University of Stuttgart.