Air emission and health impacts of a US industrial energy efficiency program

Energy efficiency opportunities in the industrial sector can reduce air emissions and benefit human health. One national-level energy efficiency program, the Department of Energy (DOE)-funded Industrial Assessment Center (IAC), provides US manufacturing facilities with cost-effective energy efficiency recommendations. However, the effect of the IAC on air quality and human health has not been explored. While several studies have evaluated the health impacts of air emissions reduction associated with energy efficiency, most of them did not consider regional differences in electricity grid profiles. These differences can change both emissions and health outcomes. This study focuses on air quality and health impacts of electricity and natural gas-related recommendations from the IAC program in 2022. It estimates 248 GWh of electricity, and 1.1E6 MMBtu of natural gas savings will result from the recommendations. Using the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Avoided Emissions and GeneRation Tool (AVERT) to estimate regional electricity emissions, published natural gas emission rates, and EPA’s co-benefit risk assessment (COBRA) tool, the total annual health outcomes associated with these savings range from 4.85 to 16.9 million USD (2023). This range includes different NO_x emission rates and high and low COBRA estimates. Additionally, we introduce an energy savings health estimator (ESHE) tool that calculates air emissions and associated health outcomes of energy savings measures. We also apply it to the 2022 IAC recommendations and compare the health outcomes to those calculated using AVERT and COBRA separately. This tool can quickly estimate the health impacts of various energy efficiency projects or programs.