World Energy Outlook 2007

Box 5.1: Regional Air Quality (Continued)
30 Mt by 2030. Emissions of NO x
rise even faster. Emissions of these and
other pollutants also rise steadily in India; SO 2
emissions more than
double from 7 Mt in 2005 to 16.5 Mt in 2030 in the Reference Scenario. 2
Technologies already exist to address local and regional pollution from
fossil-energy use. Most industrialised countries have made considerable
progress in improving air quality, despite growing energy consumption.
The health benefits generally far outweigh the financial costs associated
with the more stringent environmental standards on energy equipment
and fuel quality. Some of the gains have come from improving energy
efficiency, which reduces the need to burn fossil fuels. Integrating air
pollution abatement and climate change mitigation policies offers
potentially large cost reductions compared to treating those policies in
isolation. The near-term health benefits from reduced air pollution as a
result of actions to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions can be substantial
and may offset a substantial fraction of mitigation costs (IPCC, 2007).
Other benefits, such as enhanced energy security, increased agricultural
production and reduced pressure on natural ecosystems from lower ozone
concentrations would also add to the potential cost savings.
Figure 5.7: Incremental Energy-Related CO 2
Emissions by Region and Scenario,
2005-2030
Reference Scenario
42%
14% 44%
Alternative Policy Scenario
52%
17%
31%
High Growth Scenario
49%
15%
35%
0 4 8 12 16 20
billion tonnes
China India Rest of the world
2. See Chapters 9 and 16 for details of the outlook for Chinese and Indian air pollution.
198 World Energy Outlook 2007 - GLOBAL ENERGY PROSPECTS: IMPACT OF DEVELOPMENTS IN CHINA & INDIA