Collaborative Research

Environmental justice, public awareness and energy policy

1. Environmental Justice

We combine satellite data and air pollution trajectory models with census demographics to assess population exposure to pollution from coal-fired power plants in India. We find that ethnic and poor populations are more likely to be exposed to coal pollution (Kopas et al., 2020). In Vietnam, we connect air pollution data with survey data to assess the determinants of public awareness. The results suggest that while local air pollution increases public awareness, support for effective policy measures depends on education levels (Kim et al., 2020).

Related Papers:

    Kopas, J., York, E., Jin, X., Harish, S., Kennedy, R., Shen, S., Urpelainen, J. (2020). Environmental justice in India: incidence of air pollution from coal-fired power plants, Ecological Economics, 176, 106711. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106711.

    Kim, S., Harish, S., Kennedy, R., Jin, X., Urpelainen, J. (2019). Environmental Degradation and Public Opinion: The Case of Air Pollution in Vietnam, The Journal of Environment & Development, 78(112), 107049651988825 - 27. doi: 10.1177/1070496519888252.



2. Air pollution from coal-fired power plants

Using a trajectory model to track the plume trajectory of emissions from coal-fired power plants globally, we identify the power plants most likely to lead to transboundary air pollution (Du et al., 2020), and those most suitable for early retirement (Maamoun et al., 2020).

Related Papers:

    Maamoun, N., Kennedy, R., Jin, X., Urpelainen, J. Identifying coal-fired power plants for early retirement (2020), Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 126, 109833, doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2020.109833.

    Du, X., Jin, X., Zucker, N., Kennedy, R., Urpelainen, J. (2020). Transboundary air pollution from coal-fired power generation, Journal of Environmental Management, 270, 110862. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110862.