Urban Air Quality
29
29
important, and California has significant incentives to encourage the electrification of transportation as part of the effort to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and improve air quality (CARB, 2017).
3.3 Household Air Pollution
Energy production and transportation based on fossil fuels has long been
recognized as being a big part of the problem of air pollution production.
More recently, some attention has also been directed towards air pollution
within the household. The use of solid fuels for heating and cooking is one
of the important sources of air pollution in many countries, particularly in
developing areas. Cooking over an open fire or with a stove that is designed
for solid fuels results in air pollution. That pollution, moreover, is highly
localized (inside the house), so the degree of exposure can be very high
for the house’s residents. A recent estimate reported that about 2.45 billion
people are exposed to air pollution from the use of solid fuels for cooking
(HEI, 2018). The largest numbers of people cooking with solid fuels are in
India and China, whereas the largest percentages of the population cooking
with solid fuels are in African countries such as the Democratic Republic
of the Congo and Ethiopia. The good news is that the percentage of people
cooking with solid fuels is decreasing, with more rapid declines in South
Asia and East Asia (HEI, 2018).
The main reason to replace solid fuels with gas or electricity for cooking is
the health impacts of the air pollution from solid fuels. More than 3 million
people die from household air pollution each year, and combustion gases
from burning solid fuels are the main source of pollutants (Goldemberg
et al., 2018; Baklanov et al., 2016). The concept of changing from cooking
with solid fuel to cooking with electricity – particularly where the electricity
is generated without combustion – is included as one aspect of sustainable
urban development by Stewart et al. (2018). With the lower cost of solargenerated electricity, the practicality of using off- grid solar energy to power
electric cooking in rural areas where the regular electricity grid is not available is becoming possible.
3.4 Impact of Urban Air Pollution on Health
As mentioned, air pollutant concentrations can reach unacceptable levels and
lead to health impacts in urban areas because of the many industrial, commercial, and mobile sources there. In global terms, the burden of disease associated
with urban air pollution has been increasing in direct relation to these increases
29
29
important, and California has significant incentives to encourage the electrification of transportation as part of the effort to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and improve air quality (CARB, 2017).
3.3 Household Air Pollution
Energy production and transportation based on fossil fuels has long been
recognized as being a big part of the problem of air pollution production.
More recently, some attention has also been directed towards air pollution
within the household. The use of solid fuels for heating and cooking is one
of the important sources of air pollution in many countries, particularly in
developing areas. Cooking over an open fire or with a stove that is designed
for solid fuels results in air pollution. That pollution, moreover, is highly
localized (inside the house), so the degree of exposure can be very high
for the house’s residents. A recent estimate reported that about 2.45 billion
people are exposed to air pollution from the use of solid fuels for cooking
(HEI, 2018). The largest numbers of people cooking with solid fuels are in
India and China, whereas the largest percentages of the population cooking
with solid fuels are in African countries such as the Democratic Republic
of the Congo and Ethiopia. The good news is that the percentage of people
cooking with solid fuels is decreasing, with more rapid declines in South
Asia and East Asia (HEI, 2018).
The main reason to replace solid fuels with gas or electricity for cooking is
the health impacts of the air pollution from solid fuels. More than 3 million
people die from household air pollution each year, and combustion gases
from burning solid fuels are the main source of pollutants (Goldemberg
et al., 2018; Baklanov et al., 2016). The concept of changing from cooking
with solid fuel to cooking with electricity – particularly where the electricity
is generated without combustion – is included as one aspect of sustainable
urban development by Stewart et al. (2018). With the lower cost of solargenerated electricity, the practicality of using off- grid solar energy to power
electric cooking in rural areas where the regular electricity grid is not available is becoming possible.
3.4 Impact of Urban Air Pollution on Health
As mentioned, air pollutant concentrations can reach unacceptable levels and
lead to health impacts in urban areas because of the many industrial, commercial, and mobile sources there. In global terms, the burden of disease associated
with urban air pollution has been increasing in direct relation to these increases