You probably know that eating healthy and regular exercise are the cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle. You’re probably familiar with the benefits of natural gas use too.
But did you know that when power plants switch from coal to natural gas to generate electricity there are significant health benefits? A recent study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that health and climate-related benefits to Americans are significant, as noted in this excerpt:
“We used existing national datasets and publicly available models to investigate the upper limit to the emission benefits of natural gas in the USA power sector. As a limiting case, we analyzed a switch of all USA coal plants to natural gas plants, occurring in 2016. The human health benefits of such a switch are substantial: SO2 emissions are reduced from the baseline (MATS (Mercury and Air Toxics Standard) retrofits by 2016) by more than 90%, and NOX emissions by more than 60%, reducing total national annual health damages by $20 – $50 billion annually.”
So, in addition to regular physical activity and ample amounts of fruits and vegetables, electricity generated by clean and safe natural gas helps us all live healthier lives.
