1167578 - Reducing Power Sector Emissions in China for Climate and Public Health Benefits with Economic Dispatch (Student Poster #14)

China suffers the largest premature mortality burden associated with outdoor air pollution and the power sector contributes a large portion of the country’s air pollution due to reliance on coal. The power system in China is highly regulated and uses an “equal shares dispatch system”. However, market mechanisms are being introduced in an effort to improve system safety, reduce generation costs, and promote energy efficiency. In this study, we analyze the climate and health impacts brought about by adopting unit commitment and economic dispatch (UC/ED) in the China power system. We also estimate the potential benefits of considering emission externalities in the dispatch decision-making process. To achieve this, we use a power system modeling platform to predict power system operation in China when minimizing operational costs. We optimize power system operations to minimize operational costs, climate impacts, and public health impacts. Finally, a reduced-form air quality model is applied to simulate air pollutant concentrations under different power system operations scenarios. By comparing the scenarios, we find that the transition from equal share to economic dispatch would have more generation from coal due to the high price of natural gas. However, the improved efficiency of coal generation yields to CO2 emissions reduction. Additionally, adopting economic dispatch can have profound positive impacts on public health, with particulate matter pollution from power plant emissions dropping by 32% and total premature deaths reduced by 20%. Compared with traditional economic dispatch, considering emission externalities can further help mitigate the negative impacts on both climate and public health. The geospatial distribution of benefits is affected by the externalities included in the dispatch decision-making process. Mitigation of climate impacts in China can have significant public health co-benefits, highlighting the importance of considering public health consequences when implementing decarbonization strategies.