The Impact of Wind Energy on Air Pollution and Emergency Department Visits

Using daily variation in wind power generation in the western portion of Texas, we show that the resulting lower fossil fuel generation in the eastern portion of the state leads to air-quality improvements and, subsequently, to fewer emergency department (ED) visits. Spatially, the impact on pollution is widespread, but wind energy reduces ED admission rates more in zip codes closer to coal plants. Using intra-day wind generation and electricity pricing data, we find that more wind generation coming from hours when congestion on the electricity grid is less leads to higher reductions in emissions from east Texas power plants and PM2.5 concentrations and ED admission rates in east Texas. Comparing wind generation effects across low-demand night hours to higher-demand day hours, more NO $$_\text {X}$$ X and SO $$_2$$ 2 is offset by wind from night hours, but the time-dependent effects for PM2.5 concentrations and ED admission rates is much weaker, potentially due to differences in exposure.