Economic-boom-driven electricity demand linked to urban air pollution and health in India

Kurzfassung

Rapid economic growth in India since 2000 has been accompanied by rising electricity demand and worsening urban air pollution. Here we show that a threefold increase in GDP per capita was associated with a nearly fourfold rise in electricity demand, with coal supplying approximately 76% of total generation. This coal-dependent expansion increased energy-sector SO2 emissions and contributed to a twofold increase in urban aerosol loading, with sulfate accounting for approximately 46% of the urban aerosol burden. Urban PM2.5-attributable deaths increased from approximately 0.7 million in 2000 to 0.9 million in 2020, with increasing contributions from power-sector emissions. Meanwhile, rising incomes increased clean-cooking access from approximately 25% to 75%, accompanied by declining household air-pollution deaths but increasing outdoor air-pollution deaths. These findings highlight contrasting indoor and outdoor air-pollution health consequences of coal-dependent economic growth. This underscores the urgency of decarbonizing electricity generation to improve urban air quality and public health as well as maintaining sustainable economic growth.