Environmental, health and economic benefits of emission reduction in residential sector – a case study for Poland

Numerous epidemiological and risk assessment studies have demonstrated that air pollution poses a substantial health and economic burden. Despite this, a small number of comprehensive assessments of the benefits of emission reductions in Central Europe have been conducted, simultaneously addressing improvements in air quality, public health and reductions in economic costs. This study shows the impact of the reduction in the usage of solid fuels within the residential sector, that is responsible for 80% of primary PM2.5 emissions in Poland. Three emissions scenarios were assessed with an atmospheric chemical transport model: the BASE case (with no modification to emissions), the OPTIMISTIC scenario (80% reduction in the usage of solid fuels within the residential sector), and finally the CONSERVATIVE scenario (60% reduction in the usage of solid fuels within the residential sector). The results show that there is a widespread exceedance of the WHO 5 μg/m3 recommended limit of annual mean PM2.5 concentration with 99% area of Poland exceeding it even for the OPTIMISTIC scenario. Nevertheless, the annual mean PM2.5 concentrations are lower by about 16% for the OPTIMISTIC run compared to the BASE case. The annual number of deaths related to PM2.5 concentrations decrease by more than 6000 people in the CONSERVATIVE scenario and nearly by 10 000 people in the OPTIMISTIC scenario compared to the BASE case.