Environmental Burden of Disease due to Emissions of Hard Coal- and Lignite-Fired Power Plants in Germany.

The study estimated the environmental burden of disease (EBD) attributable to a long-term exposure of the population to nitrogen dioxide (NO) and fine particulate matter (PM) emissions from hard coal- and lignite-fired power plants in Germany for the year 2015. The contribution of coal-fired power plants to the total air pollutant concentration was modelled using a chemical transport model and then combined with population data to assess the corresponding population exposure. We calculated years of life lost (YLL), years of life with disability, or disability-adjusted life years for different health outcomes with a strong evidence for an association with the exposure. The burden of disease from PM emissions from lignite is 1.2 times higher than that from hard coal emissions (7,866 YLL compared to 6,412 YLL). NO emissions from lignite, cause a burden of disease 2.3 times higher than hard coal NO-emission (13,537 YLL compared to 5,906 YLL). The EBD for both pollutants is dominated by diseases of the cardiovascular system. Abandoning energy generation by coal-fired power plants would lower the burden of disease in Germany.