EU renewable electricity growth has reduced environmental pressures linked to a range of challenges from climate change to particulate matter (PM) in the air, in a series of ‘clear improvements’. This last one is critical, as high PM can be directly linked to respiratory diseases.
According to the latest study from the European Environment Agency (EEA), the generation of renewable electricity in 2019 was 34%, almost double that in 2005. In overall energy market terms, this was about half a percentage point below the binding 2020 target of 20% but did push coal off the leader board as the main supplier of EU electricity. This matters because coal is a significant source of airborne pollutants.
Air pollution such as ground level ozone, NO2, and PM levels in particular, have been linked not only to increased levels of asthma but to higher rates of miscarriage in women, heart attacks, strokes and lung cancer – responsible for around 7 million deaths a year. The World Health Organisation has argued that action on clean air could cut deaths by two thirds by 2030.
There is a significant cost associated with air pollution as well, with the European Health Alliance reporting that polluted cities in Europe suffer more than £150 billion of damage per year. Pollution related deaths making up 76% of costs with related diseases making up the rest. A 2015 WHO report suggested that the economic cost of air pollution on health alone in the countries of the WHO European Region was $1.4 trillion.
The EEA report said that considerable part of the avoided impacts found in its research can be attributed to the phasing out of hard coal power plants in favour of renewable and natural gas generation. Unsurprisingly, the increase in levels of cleaner electricity had a positive impact on EU-wide GHG emissions reduction as well. Understanding the positive additional benefits of renewable energy is vital if integrated policies which achieve security, availability and affordability of energy access, as well as air quality and climate goals are to be implemented.
The director of Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, Wendel Trio, said: “Strongly reducing energy consumption and substantially increasing renewable energy are a must for a net-zero energy system and this study underlines the benefits of this transition for our climate and our economy, while proposing ways to mitigate potential negative environmental impacts of renewables.”
These changes came about because of shifts from coal to natural gas and renewables-based generation in most Member States since 2005. Most of the avoided impacts were driven by an increase in electricity generation from onshore wind power and solar PV sources, followed by electricity generation from solid and gaseous biomass fuels.
In fact, for most of the impact categories investigated (climate change; climate change; freshwater eutrophication – where water is affected negatively by run-off from land base nutrients, lowering oxygen levels and triggering algal growth; particulate matter formation; terrestrial acidification; freshwater ecotoxicity; and land occupation) the life cycle impact potentials of eutrophication, particulate matter formation and acidification were all lower in 2018 than in 2005.
Of course, the report recognises that renewable generation is not impact free. This is because constructing renewable power generation components and plants is both material and energy intensive. That leads to specific upstream and downstream emissions and impacts, while new infrastructure can affect vulnerable habitats. Overall, the EEA studied 16 power generation methods, of which coal, natural gas and oil had the biggest life-cycle impacts on the environment.
Overall it was found that, “expanding renewable electricity generation across the EU provides multiple opportunities to improve human health and the environment while mitigating climate change.” The EEA study did point out that good monitoring and policy implementation, as well as other potential targeted measures, will need to accompany these trends to avoid environmental problem shifting. It’s suggested that actions should focus on reducing impacts linked to material sourcing and to production processes across various supply chains (e.g. for solar photovoltaic modules and biomass fuels), along with improvements in energy and resource efficiency.
Meeting EU emissions-cutting goals will require an even faster expansion of renewable sources, requiring a power sector based 70% on renewables by 2030, at least tripling current capacity. But this report is good news for the clean energy market, as the wider the benefits that investment in the sector have for society as a whole, the greater its acceptance, its political support and its appeal to investors increasing looking to an ESG-driven low carbon future.
