Air quality in cities such as Beijing might improve with a renewable power ‘by wire’ scheme. (Source: Kentaro IEMOTO/CC BY SA 2.0)China is recognized as the world's top carbon emitter and a nation with severely degraded air quality. A possible solution for these problems: bringing renewable power ‘by wire’ from western China to its power-hungry eastern cities.

An integrated assessment based on atmospheric modeling and epidemiological data demonstrates the benefits of a ‘hybrid-by-wire’ scheme. Transmitting a hybrid of renewable (60 percent) and coal power (40 percent) reduces 20 percent more national air pollution-associated deaths and reduces three times more carbon emissions than transmitting only coal-based electricity.

While transmitting coal power is slightly more effective at reducing air pollution impacts than replacing old coal power plants with newer cleaner ones in the east, both coal scenarios have approximately the same carbon emissions.

The researchers contend that coordinating transmission planning with renewable energy deployment is critical to maximize both local air quality benefits and global climate benefits.

The study was conducted by researchers from Princeton University (Princeton, New Jersey), Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusets), North China Electric Power University (Beijing, China), Nanjing University (Nanjing, China), NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (Princeton, New Jersey), Tsinghua University (Beijing, China), University of California (San Diego, California), and The Brookings Institution (Washington, DC).