Estimated Pollution Reduction from Wind Farms in Oklahoma and Associated Economic and Human Health Benefits

Over the past few decades, there has been a recognition of the growing need for different forms of energy outside of fossil fuels. Since the latter half of the twentieth century individuals, corporations, and governments have become increasingly aware of the effects of the emissions of carbon and other harmful pollutants on the environment. With this greater concern has come increasing activity to combat these harmful emissions by using alternative fuel sources to power homes, businesses, and cities. As can be seen from recent trends in their installed capacity, it is clear that renewable energy resources will continue to be more commonly used in the future. As renewable energy increases, a decrease in a range of harmful pollutants from the energy sector will also occur. This paper provides a case study to estimate the potential environmental and health benefits of an increased shift from fossil fuels to renewable fuels for electrical production in Oklahoma. Results illustrate and quantify the specific reduction that wind energy can and will have on air quality, as well as provide a quantification of the associated potential health benefits. 1. Introduction Since the latter half of the twentieth century individuals, corporations, and governments have become increasingly aware of the effects of pollution emissions on the environment. International organizations such as the G8 group of leading economic countries have also recognized the importance of renewable energy for sustainable development, as well as for energy security, diversification of energy supply, and environmental preservation. With this greater concern has come increasing activity to combat these harmful emissions by using alternative fuel sources to power homes, businesses, and cities. For example, 2011 saw the United States pass the 46？GW mark for installed electrical generation capacity by wind [1]. The overall world total installed capacity is over 240？GW. This represents a tremendous amount of growth over the last few decades as there was almost no installed capacity in the year 1980. With this rapid expansion of a new technology comes many questions. For example, environmental impacts of a shift in electrical production to wind needs to be examined. Although there are a range of potential environmental impacts of renewable energy (e.g., impact on wildlife, etc.; see US Department of Energy [DOE] [2], National Science Foundation (NSF) [3]) there have been few studies of the impact on emission of harmful pollutants. This list would include Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Nitrous Oxides (NOX),