When stratifying by different fuel type, we found that only solid waste had an association with term LBW, whereas oil, gas, and solid waste all had an association with PTD and VPTD. There were 150 active nonrenewable power plants with different fuel types including 17 coal plants, 66 gas plants, 3 nuclear plants, 28 oil plants, 29 solid waste plants, and 7 plants with other types of fuel (e.g., coke, etc.). We geocoded 423,719 singleton Florida births born from 2004 to 2005 and all active power plants and determined residential proximity to the nearest power plant for each birth. Finally, the Hierarchical Bayesian Prediction Model data that we used to describe PM2.5 exposures were available at only 12 12 km resolution. X
Specifically, for each 5-km decrease in the distance to any power plant, the odds of term LBW, PTD, and VPTD increased by 1.1% (odds ratio (OR) = 1.011, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.002, 1.020), 1.8% (OR = 1.018, 95% CI: 1.013, 1.023), and 2.2% (OR = 1.022, 95% CI: 1.010, 1.034), respectively. Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions at the State Level, through 2018, Monthly Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production, Annual Solar Photovoltaic Module Shipments Report, Midwest and Rocky Mountain Transportation Fuels Markets, East Coast and Gulf Coast Transportation Fuels Markets. Two logistic regression models were used for each outcome: The first model was unadjusted, and the second model was a parsimonious model adjusted for potential confounders on the basis of our directed acyclic graph (Supplementary Data). Air pollution has been extensively linked to many negative health outcomes ranging from cardiorespiratory diseases (13) to hospitalizations (46) and mortality (7, 8).
During the study period, power plants in the United States emitted an estimated annual average of 2,491,971 metric tons of carbon dioxide, 10,431 metric tons of sulfur dioxide, and 4,212 metric tons of nitric oxides (27).
Williams
Like most retrospective studies, this study has several limitations.
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Steve Clemmer
Gas blows are routine practice within the industry. 2 Brattle Square, Cambridge MA 02138, USA, produces less global warming emissions and air pollution, projections from the California Air Resources Board, concentrated in some of the most socioeconomically and environmentally disadvantaged communities. J
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com.
First, natural gas power plants do not move they just sit there and emit NOx when they are operating. Rahmani
Vijayaraghavan
These analyses showed consistent results, suggesting that residual confounding was unlikely. Liu
Does EIA have maps or information on the location of natural gas and oil pipelines? The following are the required setbacks to minimize exposure at different distances: 100 feet for 50 to 133kV transmission line 150 feet for 220 to 230kV transmission line 350 feet for 500 to 550kV transmission line In populous cities, the percentage of deaths attributable to PM2.5 and ozone ranges from 3.5% in San Jose to 10% in Los Angeles (both in California) (9).
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Romieu
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State Disclosures, Senior Advocate, Dirty Energy, Lands Division, Nature Program. Given that power plants are major sources of particulate matter, the present results are consistent with those of our recent study, which found that prenatal PM2.5 exposure was positively associated with LBW, PTD, and VPTD (23).
HS
Updated March 27, 2012. Please click here to see any active alerts. Additionally, we were not able to identify critical windows of exposure that underlie these associations. Lamson
The electric power sector is a large source of U.S. CO 2 emissions. Y
In fact, the rise of natural gas to become the leading U.S. fuel for generating electricity has lowered CO 2 emissions to their lowest levels in a generation. G
We further stratified analyses for different types of plants. Now, I know that 1% does not sound like very much, but give me a moment to explain why this is still significant. VPTD was defined as a birth that occurred before 32 weeks of gestation. If something happens to go wrong at a nuclear reactor, anyone living in a 10-mile radius of the plant may You'll receive your first NRDC action alert and Ha
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Updated January 2012.
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After exclusion of births that had addresses outside Florida (n = 4,672); births that were missing address (n = 423), unable to geocode (e.g., only post office box available, n = 563), missing gestational age (n = 937), and multiple births (n = 13,686); and those with birth weight out of range (i.e., <500 and >5,000 g) (n = 903) and those with gestational age out of range (i.e., <140 days and >320 days) (n = 125), 423,719 births remained for analyses. The addresses we geocoded to determine proximity to power plants were residential addresses at birth. Zeitlin
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, power plants release toxic chemicals into the air including mercury, heavy metals, and acid gases, all of which are known to be deleterious to human health, especially that of the unborn fetus (15). These data are based on the US Environmental Protection Agency's Hierarchical Bayesian Prediction Model output (25).
One of the reasons for the differences may be a result of the spatial clustering of power plants. However, emissions from natural gas power plants are only a fraction of the emissions from stationary sources, so NOx emissions from natural gas power plants end up being roughly 1% of total NOx emissions in California. UCS recently co-sponsored a bill in the California legislature that was designed to shed light on pollution from natural gas power plants and require better planning for pollution reductions from plants. Shi
et al. RD
Four people died last year during a gas blow at a ConAgra Slim Jim factory in North Carolina. Such information would be valuable in public health efforts to reduce adverse birth outcomes. 3rd
RD
AR
et al. Something ignited the gas that was being used in a scheduled cleaning procedure at the Kleen Energy Plant in Connecticut. Geographical distribution of power plants and average annual levels of particulate matter less than 2.5 m in diameter (PM2.5) in Florida during the study period from 2003 to 2005.
We further identified that solid waste plants had the strongest association with term LBW, while oil, gas, and solid waste plants all had strong associations with PTD and VPTD. D
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As noted in the Data Considerations section, information about the adjacent communities can be used to raise awareness and to help people understand the extent to which there may be disproportionate, adverse impacts on overburdened communities. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. L
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et al. Bremner
Wang
The interactive map below shows recent and expected coal, natural gas, oil, and other combustion power plant retirements. et al. Given that PM2.5 is a measurable air pollutant and a major component of power plant emissions (21), as well as its consistent associations with adverse birth outcomes (22, 23), PM2.5 can serve as a good indicator for air pollution from power plants. Covariates were chosen on the basis of a directed acyclic graph (Supplementary Data available at http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/). For example, higher exposure to sulfur dioxide has been linked to PTD among singleton births (28) and decreased term birth weight (29). Lets make sure that does not happen.
Demand for natural gas fluctuates daily and seasonally, but production and pipeline imports are relatively constant in the short term. For example, in Ohio the setback from a home is 100 feet from a well - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is home to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). In categorical exposure analyses, no association was found. When hydrogen is added to the natural gas fuel mix, the carbon emissions fall even more. K
Accessed December 6, 2014, US Power Plant Global Warming Emissions Rising in 2013 AfterYears of Decline, Birth defects in the vicinity of nuclear power plants in Germany, Congenital anomalies, prematurity, and low birth weight rates in relation to nuclear power plant proximity, Pregnancy outcome of women in the vicinity of nuclear power plants in Taiwan, Increased risk of preterm delivery in women residing near thermal power plants in Taiwan, Using the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) Model to estimate public health impacts of PM, Maternal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) and pregnancy outcomes: a meta-analysis, The effects of air pollution on adverse birth outcomes, Fuel sources and carbon dioxide emissions by electric power plants in the United States, Published March 2009. Monthly and yearly energy forecasts, analysis of energy topics, financial analysis, congressional reports. A recent study by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that natural gas power plants in California will start and stop much more frequently in the future, and this increase in natural gas plant start-ups may increase NOx emissions. Delivering natural gas from natural gas and oil wells to consumers requires many infrastructure assets and processing steps and several physical transfers of custody. And since half of Californias natural gas power plants are concentrated in some of the most socioeconomically and environmentally disadvantaged communities in the state, these emissions harm communities that are already overburdened with pollution. Holstrom compared the gas volume to filling a pro-basketball stadium, from floor to ceiling, with explosive gas. These mortality estimates were significantly higher for the older population. et al. X
However, the distance from the line is crucial in determining the damage it causes.
When natural gas arrives at the locations where it will be used (usually through large pipelines), it flows into smaller diameter pipelines called mains and then into smaller service lines that go directly to homes or buildings. Natural gas delivery infrastructure has three categories: Natural gas transported on the mainline natural gas transportation (pipeline) system in the United States must meet specific quality measures so that the pipeline network (or grid) provides uniform-quality natural gas. RJ
The association between adverse birth outcomes and total number of power plants within 20 km was determined.
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Czeizel
How much NOx is coming from natural gas power plants? That is where things get complicated.
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PTD was defined as a birth that occurred before 37 but at or after 32 weeks of gestation. Senior Energy Analyst, James Gignac (* edit). However, studies on residential mobility and its effects on air pollution assessment suggest a very low degree of misclassification (42, 43). Prenatal exposure was assigned to each birth as the average daily PM2.5 concentration over the first trimester for the grid in which it falls. [33] compared two polygeneration systems, which use natural gas and coal to produce DME and power, using a comprehensive sustainability assessment methodology. We chose first trimester because 1) first trimester exposure to PM2.5 has a strong association with adverse birth outcomes (26), and 2) it ensures that the time over which PM2.5 is averaged is similar for cases and controls. HR
Some women may spend most of their time outside their residential home; therefore, their exposure may be different from that estimated. Liu
However, women may have moved during pregnancy, leading to potential exposure misclassification. Y
N
When stratified by type of plants in order to compare birth outcomes among women who lived close to or farther from different types of power plants, our data showed that solid waste plants had associations with all adverse birth outcomes. Zhu
HS
However, we have also used a fully adjusted model with all covariates in our directed acyclic graph. Peacock
Natural gas power accounts for about 20 percent of the nation's electricity. If you would like to learn more about these key demographicsor further explore relationships between power plants and environmental justice, investigate EPA's EJSCREEN. Initial calculations conducted by the USB determined that about 400,000 standard cubic feet of natural gas had been released into the atmosphere within the 10 minutes prior to the incident. . JL
Association Between Proximity to Power Plants, by Fuel Type, and Adverse Birth Outcomes in Florida From 2004 to 2005. Fann
and a University of Florida Graduate School fellowship (S.H.).
Notethat this applies to the site boundary, not to theactual well site.". JI
In addition, when exposure was changed to number of plants within 20 km, coal plants had the highest association with all adverse birth outcomes. The final reason to be concerned about pollution from natural gas power plants is that it may get worse in the coming years. H
Researchers from this study found no evidence of risk of childhood cancer for families living 164 feet or more from power lines. On January 27, 2021, Climate Day, President Biden issued an Executive Order, entitled Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, that addresses climate change policy and environmental justice.
Hodges
Furthermore, we were not able to account for pollutants from other sources such as traffic and industrial emission.
Delfino
These results call for further investigation to confirm our results and to investigate the specific pollutants generated from power plants that are responsible for this association. NOXandSO2emissions contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone and fine PM, which can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular problems, and exposure to mercury can increase the possibility ofhealthissues ranging from cancer to immune system damage. A detailed description of this method was reported elsewhere (23). Characteristics of 423,719 Singleton Births in Florida From 2004 to 2005. et al. Called a gas blow, the operation involved workers streaming natural gas through a pipe at a high velocity in order to remove debris from new piping.
We were unable to perform analyses for more refined proximity categories because of low sample size for certain cells.
Second, we use PM2.5 as a surrogate for pollution from power plants to determine 1) the level of pollution exposure during pregnancy for women living close to power plants and 2) whether the amount of pollution depends on fuel type. Natural gas storage during periods of low demand helps to ensure that enough natural gas is available during periods of high demand.
PC
Biodiesel, renewable diesel, and other biofuels, U.S. S
b Nuclear plants are categorized differently because there are no births with 2 or more nuclear plants within 20 km. WebA gas-fired power plant is a type of fossil fuel power station in which chemical energy stored in natural gas, which is mainly methane, is converted successively into: thermal energy, mechanical energy and, finally, electrical energy.Although they cannot exceed the Carnot cycle limit for conversion of heat energy into useful work the excess heat may be used in Natural gas is stored in large volumes in underground facilities and in smaller volumes in tanks above or below ground. WebGangadharan et al. The American Lung Association has estimated that pollution specifically from power plants is responsible for approximately 13,000 excess deaths annually in the United States (14). S
Holland
WebFar safer than living near a coal burning plant or downstream from a major dam. Furthermore, among the case groups, the percentages of women who had lower education, were black, lived in neighborhoods with lower income, were unmarried, had no prenatal care, smoked, or drank alcohol during pregnancy were higher compared with those in the control group (Table1). In Scheme 1, the syngas that results from coal gasification was divided into two parts; one part went to the et al. Crude oil, gasoline, heating oil, diesel, propane, and other liquids including biofuels and natural gas liquids. All rights reserved. Figure2A and 2B illustrate PM2.5 exposure by types of power plants. 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safe distance to live from natural gas power plant