Africa is in a unique position to leapfrog dependence on fossil fuels and adopt the use of cleaner fuels for transport and electricity generation, but there are already ambitious plans to commission coal and natural gas power plants throughout the continent and dirty diesel vehicles and unregulated liquid fuels are making their way to Africa. We develop an inventory of these pollution sources for 2012 and 2030 and determine the future burden on health.

Premature mortality due to exposure to PM2.5 from future fossil fuel use

People: Alfred Bockarie

Funding: Study commissioned by the Wallace Foundation

External Collaborators: Rachel Silvern, Loretta Mickley, Alina Vodonos, Joel Schwartz

Tools: GEOS-Chem

New Datasets: Inventory of 2012 and 2030 emissions from fossil fuel for electricity generation and transport in Africa, GEOS-Chem surface concentrations of PM2.5 and ozone at 0.5° x 0.67° (latitude x longitude).

References:

E. A. Marais, R. F. Silvern, A. Vodonos, E. Dupin, A. S. Bockarie, L. J. Mickley, J. Schwartz, Air quality and health impact of future fossil fuel use for electricity generation and transport in Africa, submitted to Environ. Sci. Technol.

A. Vodonos, J. Schwartz, E. A. Marais, M. P. Sulprizio, L. J. Mickley, Global mortality from outdoor fine particle pollution generated by fossil fuel combustion: Results from GEOS-Chem, submitted to Environ. Res.

In the News:

The Guardian: Pollutionwatch: Africa increases its reliance on fossil fuels (picked up by Yahoo News)

Harvard SEAS: Switching to renewable energy could save thousands of lives in Africa (picked up by phys.org, AAAS EurekAlert!, Science Daily, Homeland Security News Wire, News Medical, Environmental News Network, Eurasia Review)