ExternE - externalities of energy

TLDR

Earlier phases left key issues—global warming damages, major accidents, non-environmental externalities, tropospheric ozone health effects, sustainability, mortality valuation, broader pollutants, fuel chain impacts, and uncertainty—unresolved due to data gaps and lack of suitable models. This report updates the ExternE Project's earlier Methodology report, detailing substantial advances made in 1996 and 1997. The study focused on developing methods for global warming damages, major accidents, non-environmental externalities, tropospheric ozone health and crop impacts, sustainability, mortality valuation, broader pollutants, fuel chain impacts outside the EU, and uncertainty. The developed methods are now widely used to support policy by international, national, and local governments, yet further research is needed to build on these achievements and keep the recommended information and models up to date.

Abstract

This report updates the ExternE Project's earlier Methodology report, providing details of substantial advances that were made in 1996 and 1997. Particular attention was given to the following areas: global warming damages; major accidents; non-environmental externalities; effects of tropospheric ozone on health and crops; sustainability; valuation of mortality associated with air pollution; effects of a broader range of pollutants, such as dioxins and heavy metals; fuel chain impacts outside the European Union; and uncertainty. The fact that several of these issues were not adequately resolved in the earlier phases of the study illustrates the fact that they are problematic, either because of lack of data, or because their assessment demanded models that were not previously available. The methods developed within the study are becoming widely used in support of policy development by international bodies, and national and local government. Although this is a clear sign of the success of the study, it is also stressed that further research is needed to build on the achievements so far, and to ensure that the information and models recommended by the study are kept up to date.