To cut pollution, install green power in the coal belt

Ohio State University solar house could be more efficient at reducing pollution than it would be in California.

colincookman

Proponents of renewable energy technology are often the first to explain that green energy does more than just reduce carbon dioxide emissions—it also helps produce power without the air pollution linked to health impacts.

Wind and solar energy displace carbon dioxide and "criteria pollutants" like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulates produced by burning fossil fuels. But, if simply displacing these pollutants is all that motivates our support for expanding renewable energy development, a new report suggests that we’re going about install all wrong.

Current US renewable energy policy encourages development where the best resources, wind or sunshine, exist to create the most power. But the authors of a new study argue that analyzing the benefits of renewable energy projects should include the environmental cost of the electricity being supplanted.