Boston: If India was to replace all of its coal-fired power producing plants with clean, renewable energy, the country could help save an estimated 11 million life years per annum, a Harvard study found.
According to the researchers at the Harvard University of the US, around 2.7 billion people who live in India and China are forced to breath some of the most polluted and dirtiest air on the planet. Both the countries population make up to more than a third of the world’s population.
Death in these countries is largely due to Air pollution which contributes heavily in creating troubling atmosphere of illness. Air pollution has been ranked 4th in China and 5th in India and one of the major contributors to the Air pollution are the coal-fire powerplants, they said.
The study, conducted in Harvard University and published in the journal Environmental International, was conducted by the researchers to know how could human health could be saved to save lives in the future by replacing coal-fired powerplants in China and India with clean, renewable energy.
The came to know that by eliminating harmful emissions from powerplants could indeed help to save about 15 million years of life in China and 11 million years of life in India annually.
In the previous research, mortality was explored from exposure to fine particulate matter (known as PM2.5) in India and China but few studies have quantified the impact of specific sources and regions of pollution and helped in identification of efficient mitigation strategies, researchers said.
They were able calculate by using state-of-the-art atmospheric chemistry modelling, for area-specific annual changes in mortality rate and life expectancy due to the issue of power generation.
The researchers narrowed down the specific areas of highest priority by recommending upgradation of existing power generating technologies in provinces of Shandong, Sichuan and Henan of China and Uttar Pradesh of India for their large contributions in creating high health risks.
“This study shows how modelling advances and expanding monitoring networks are strengthening the scientific basis for setting environmental priorities to protect the health of ordinary Chinese and Indian citizens,” said Chris Nielsen, executive director of the Harvard-China Project and a co-author of the research paper.
“It also drives home just how much middle-income countries could benefit by transitioning to non-fossil electricity sources as they grow,” Nielsen said.
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