Solar, Wind Offers $12 Bn Climate Benefit To US In 2023, Finds Study

SJVN Plans To Add 4,330 MW RE Projects By FY26

A recent article by Berkeley Lab investigated the impact of wind and solar energy generation on climate and air quality benefits in the United States from 2019 to 2022. It highlights how wind and solar power have contributed to reducing emissions by displacing fossil fuel output.

The Berkeley Lab report underscores the importance of understanding the social cost of carbon (SCC) and the damages caused by nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) in assessing the value of wind and solar generation. The study focuses on the reduction of emissions in the electric sector due to wind and solar generation, particularly in comparison to natural gas and coal. It notes that coal power plants emit significantly more pollutants than natural gas plants, thus emphasizing the importance of understanding the relative impact of wind and solar on these two sources of generation.

The report found that, from 2019 through 2022, wind and solar generation in the United States provided $249 billion of climate and air quality benefits based on central estimates. In 2022, the normalized benefits were $143/MWh and $100/MWh for wind and solar, respectively, or $36/MWh and $17/MWh when only including air quality benefits. The study finds that wind and solar provided significant combined climate and air quality benefits in 2022, amounting to $62 billion and $12 billion, respectively.

The study reviews the role of wind and solar generation in electric sector emission reductions. In 2022, United States, natural gas, coal, and nuclear accounted for 39%, 19%, and 18% of total electricity, respectively, with wind and solar combined providing 15%, and hydropower 6%.

Evaluating the benefit of solar and wind energy generation, the report found that, in 2022, wind and solar provided $62 and $12 billion in combined climate and air quality benefits, respectively. It’s equivalent to $143/MWh and $100/MWh, all based on central estimates (Table 2). The report ran a Monte Carlo analysis to represent the uncertainty of all key input factors. The values across the 25th–75th percentile outputs from the Monte Carlo analysis ranged from $91/MWh to $183/MWh for wind and $61/MWh to $129/MWh for solar.

Moreover, in 2022, wind and solar provided $16 and $2.2 billion worth of air quality health benefits, respectively, at a rate of $36/MWh and $17/MWh. These air quality benefits are almost entirely derived from reducing the risk of premature mortality across the US population—in 2022, wind and solar generation served to avoid roughly 1,400 premature mortalities based on central benefit estimates.

The study found that in 2022, air quality benefits range from $30/MWh to $41/MWh for wind and from $15/MWh to $20/MWh for solar. Or, in 2022, 1,200–1,600 (5th–95th percentile ranges) premature mortalities were avoided due to the combination of wind and solar generation. For context, improvements in the prevention and treatment of cancer and heart disease are forecast to reduce 21,000 premature deaths per year in the United States between 2017 and 2030. Thus, this study aims to show that, in comparison, wind and solar benefits are small but not negligible.